Fire and Ice
by KairiKari
Summary: Haku didn't kill his father…instead he was sold into slavery. He didn't expect to meet Terra…nor did Terra expect to stumble upon someone else with an unusual bloodline. After escaping, the pair are found by Zabuza, who recognizes Terra's bloodline and knows he's hit the jackpot. He never expected to run into someone with that Kekkei Genkai. He thought they'd all been wiped out.
1. Chapter 1

So, here is one of my projects I've been working on. This is, so far, the first in a _four_ 'book' series, which includes a 'movie'. There will be lots of changes after the first few chapters, but some things will stay the same. Honestly, for those of you who have read my Bleach story, _this_ Terra, was going to go along the same lines, but I decided against it about halfway through this chapter.

I do not own Naruto, yadda yadda yadda… I do own Terra, so back off.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy…_Fire and Ice…_

* * *

Chapter I: Those That Are Precious to Me

* * *

_He backed up, tripping over one of the baskets that they used for harvests and falling over, scooting back towards the wall. His eyes were wide and filled with unshed tears. His mother lay off to the side in a pool of her own blood, her dark hair splayed like a fan. His father stood over him, a shovel dangling from his hand and his eyes alight with a strange madness._

"_Wait." One of the others that had come with his father put a hand on the man's shoulder, "Why don't you sell him? There's always a market for child slaves." His eyes widened further and his tears began to pour down his face._

"_You're right...he's pretty enough to fetch a good price." His father said with a manic grin._

{[\|/]}

_The passage was dark and dry, the floor sandy grit that was mostly packed together. Barred doors were interspersed every dozen feet or so, cut into the rock wall, but the lack of light made it impossible to see inside. They had taken his clothes, leaving him with a plain, off-white tunic and similarly colored capris._

"_They say that he ate one of his cellmates, that he learned it while farther down in the catacombs." One of the guards crowed._

"_He downright killed the last one, suffocated him until he was dead." The boy shuddered, weakly pulling at his arms as the two guards laughed and easily pulled him along. He cried out as he was thrown into a cell, impacting hard on the back wall. He shuddered and curled in on himself, tears flowing freely. The men who had brought him there laughed and slammed the door shut, lock and bolts sliding shut as they walked away._

"_Better be careful, they say he bites." One jeered over their shoulder. The boy stiffened, gripping his arms tighter. The footsteps faded away, leaving a deafening silence._

"_I hope you don't plan to believe them." A quiet voice murmured. He squeaked slightly and the other sighed faintly. Faint steps were just within hearing range, then a hand rested on his shoulder. He started, rolling away and staring with wide eyes at the other occupant of the cell._

"_Hi, my name's Terra." The other boy said just as quietly as before. Terra was thin, much thinner than him, had long, lank, dark hair that hung to the boy's waist, and dark eyes. Terra's skin was as pale as death, like the boy had never seen sunlight. Also, Terra's clothes fit badly, hanging off the too thin frame like they had been made for someone much bigger._

"_I'm not going to bite. Did they hurt you?" he shook his head and Terra sighed again, planting a hand on one bony hip and running the other through his messy hair._

"_Really, I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. What's your name?" Terra asked, extending a long fingered hand again. He shifted slightly, then slowly extended his own arm until his hand rested in Terra's pale one._

"_I…I'm Haku."_

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Haku shivered as a gust of cold air ricocheted down the tunnel. Terra grimaced and cupped his hands, curling the long fingers a bit more, and a faint flicker of flame reappeared. It cast a faint glow and even fainter heat over the pair as they huddled together. Haku's hair was much longer, and that was saying nothing for Terra's own.

"Whose turn is it?" Terra murmured, keeping his voice down to keep from attracting attention.

"I think it's yours." Haku replied.

"Oh, well. There isn't much to tell. I…I was very young when I was taken, barely old enough to remember anything. Not my family, not my village, nothing." Terra said softly. Haku pressed against the older boy's side, offering what little comfort he could. Terra rested his head on the ice-user's, ignoring the pangs from his stomach with unfortunately well-practiced ease. Down in their area of cells, or their area of the 'catacombs' as most called it, they were only fed once a week, and that was a single small bowl of cold broth. Terra thankfully could fix the heat problem at least, but they had to split the meager meal and survive with the hunger. Terra had explained that the farther down in the catacombs you were, the less you were fed. The 'merchandise' with behavioral problems that got too bad were sent to the lower levels, where many had dissolved into cannibalism to survive. Terra had also recently found out the base nature of Haku's Kekkei Genkai.

"What should we talk about next?" Haku mumbled.

"Escape." Terra said bluntly. Haku blinked but nodded.

"This is because of my memory?" he stated more than asked. Terra nodded.

"You can remember the way out because of your photographic memory. I can't, but on a good day I'm strong enough to distract the guards long enough for us to get out." Terra explained softly.

"So, when?" Haku asked. Terra opened his mouth to reply, then paused and quickly smothered the small flame in his hands. Not a moment later, footsteps echoed down the hallways. The two boys shuffled quickly to opposite sides of the cell, Terra having long ingrained the action in the younger boy from years of experience. The less friendly you seemed with your cellmate, the less likely the guards were to pick you, or them, for 'education'. However, the fire-wielder's luck seemed to have run out. The guards stopped outside the cell and one fumbled with the keys.

"Time to earn your keep kid." the one not unlocking the door said, leering at Terra. What little color inhabited Terra's face drained from it. Haku huddled in his corner, trying to remember what Terra had told him about this. The only thing the ice-user could remember was that everyone Terra had seen be dragged off had come back changed, broken in some way. Haku was worried, very much so for the older boy. Terra had stayed strong through his eleven years as a prisoner here, and had been a pillar of strength for the nine-year-old in the past two. He didn't want to see that pillar crumble now. Haku vowed that no matter what state Terra came back in, he wouldn't allow the other to fall apart. He would keep him sane, and they would escape, together. With this in mind, Haku met Terra's terrified gaze with a determined one. Terra was too scared to recognize it for what it was though, kicking and thrashing as he was literally dragged down the corridor, voice frozen in fear.

{[\|/]}

Haku looked up as the door clattered open. His eyes widened as Terra was dumped unceremoniously on the floor. The guards laughed drunkenly, swaying dangerously as they laughed and pointed. Haku barely managed to restrain himself from rushing to the other boy's side until the door had closed and the steps faded.

"Terra?" Haku asked tentatively. The boy in question was limp, splotches of blood darkening his thin clothes. The ice-user hesitantly put a hand on the other's shoulder, jumping at the icy cold feeling that he received. Terra was always warm, _always_! It had saved them several times in the deepest nights of winter. For him to be so cold...

_'Don't be dead, please don't be dead.'_ Haku thought.

"Terra!" he hissed, roughly shaking the boy's bony shoulder, "Wake up!" Terra moaned, shuddering and curling in farther on himself, only to jump and quickly uncoil, his breath hitching and a quiet mewl of pain escaping his lips, which were horrifyingly blue.

"Terra!" Haku hissed again, ignoring the strange behavior. Terra's eyes slowly blinked open, bleary with exhaustion.

"Haku?" he asked, voice hoarse as if he had been screaming for hours.

"Yeah, you've got to wake up. Your freezing and if you don't warm up you'll die." Haku said. Terra shifted, the pained mewl sounding out as he tried to rise up onto his elbows, then again as he tried to turn onto his back.

"I can't." Terra nearly sobbed, tears filling his eyes. Haku quickly curled around his friend as much as his smaller body would allow, his meager body heat not nearly enough in the long run, but enough for now. He hugged the shuddering boy to him, humming the song his mother used to sing when he was scared or hurt.

Terra shivered and burrowed closer, welcoming the younger boy's below average body heat where he usually would be trying to summon forth his own source of heat. The cold still permeated his body in places that it shouldn't, and there were still things in places that nothing should _ever_ be. Terra suddenly felt a hardening of his resolve. He refused to let the sick men in charge get the better of him. He refused to break. Crack? Maybe. Chip? Possibly. But he would not break. He wrapped his aching arms, the wrists still broken, around Haku, vowing to keep the sick bastards away from the boy too, even at the cost of his own freedom or sanity, possibly both.

_'I will protect him...to my dying breath.'_ Terra thought as he drifted off into uneasy sleep.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

"Dress it and take it back. I'm done today." Terra was roughly dropped on the floor, and the two men who had entered roughly pulled on his clothes, not caring for his broken wrists. Though his face remained blank, Terra was wincing and writhing in pain on the inside. He was barely conscious, fighting to stay so, though the rough treatment of his broken bones wasn't helping. One of the men leered, gripping Terra's chin and yanking it up to look at the dazed eyes.

"I will say, he's quite the looker…for a boy." The guard said, eyes roving over the pre-teen's starved body.

"Keep your hands to yourself, you know how the Doc gets when his specimens are messed with. Once this one breaks, you'll get your chance." The other guard hissed, keeping an eye on the busy scientist at the other end of the room. The one assaulting Terra let go with a scoff, grabbing one arm instead. The other took Terra's free arm and they dragged him from the room, not bothering to pick him up.

{[\|/]}

Haku cracked his eyes open just enough to see as the door was opened. As was routine, Terra was dropped on the floor in a broken heap, and the thoroughly inebriated guards left with a drunken sway. For several moments, Terra didn't move, and Haku was about to go over to him when footsteps echoed again through the corridor. The ice-user deepened his breathing and lowered his eyelids enough to see, if only barely, the door. A man in a white lab coat walked hastily past, a folder under his arm and the coat stained with blood. The footsteps died again, and this time, Terra shifted, lifting one arm out from under himself to reveal a ring of keys clenched in his battered hand. Haku scrambled to his feet and hurried over, clamping down on the reflexive shout of triumph that threatened to escape. He helped the weakened fire-user to his feet, pulling one of Terra's arms over his shoulders.

"I can't move my wrists right now, they're healing, but I can still use some of my techniques." Terra murmured in Haku's ear as they moved towards the door. Haku nodded determinately, maneuvering his thin arm out of the bars to position the key to unlock the door. After several seconds of breathless fumbling, the lock clicked mutedly and the door creaked open. The pair of boys slipped through, pushing the door until the lock clicked back into place, then setting off as fast as Terra's tortured body would allow. For several minutes, they wound their way through the passage, Terra's keen ears saving them quite a few times from patrolling guards, until they made it to a cross roads. Haku started down the path on their right, but Terra pulled him back.

"What?" Haku whispered.

"I feel cold air this way, and I can't hear any voices from this direction either. It smells dusty." Terra muttered. Haku nodded and they made their way forward, down the center path. Terra's senses hadn't lied, there were no footprints in the thick dust, and now Haku could feel the cold winter air coming towards them, calling to his icy-nature. The pair halted as they found a room with an open door, a window on the far wall cracked just slightly. Hastily, but cautiously, they made their way to it. Haku let Terra lean against the nearby wall and forced the window open further, spilling snow and icy wind into the room.

"You first." Terra said, but Haku shook his head.

"You're going to need help." He said and stubbornly pushed the other boy towards the window. Terra sighed but complied, hoisting himself up with his elbows and swinging his way out. Haku quickly jumped up and followed, diving after Terra into the snow bank. Terra grimaced as he sat back against the packed snow, and Haku turned to cave their entrance in on them. A sharp crack made the ice-user whirl to see Terra rotating his wrists, grimace deepening but no real pain echoing from the motion.

"Well, that psycho sure knew what he was doing. I had to force the damage to keep from healing until I got in the cell. Sorry it took so long, but because I repressed it, the healing was slow to start." Terra explained. Haku shook his head, struck dumb.

"Yeah, I know, not the smartest thing I've done. But the guards had to think I was too weak or hurt to move." Terra said.

"I-It's fine." Haku managed. Terra shot him a smile that was only caught because of the dim light glinting off his teeth, which had been getting whiter for the past few weeks. The older boy turned and a small flame sprung to life in his hand, beginning to melt the ice.

"Let's get out of here." Terra said, and Haku made a wholehearted sound of agreement.

{[/|\]}

The two escapees finally extracted themselves from the snow, and even Haku was shivering violently. Terra's limbs shook wildly as he walked, but he plowed on through the night-darkened woods. It didn't help that both were pretty soaked from their trek through the melting tunnel. Finally, Terra fell forward, like he had been doing every five minutes for the past hour, attempted to rise and couldn't. Haku hastily began pulling branches down and preparing a fire that would start easily with even a spark. Finally, once the wood was stacked right, Terra reached forward and a small flame licked at his finger, then leaped onto the evergreen needles. For a few seconds they smoldered, and then a larger flame suddenly sprang to life, hungrily eating the wood.

"No offense, but I'm beginning to hate snow." Terra said, curling towards the fire on his side.

"None taken. I control water, air, and ice, not snow itself." Haku said, pulling his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. Terra laughed hollowly.

"At least you don't have the possibility of destroying everything you touch." He said. Haku shook his head.

"Fire brings life too. There are trees that depend on a fire to spread their seeds you know." The ice-user said. Terra snorted.

"If you say so." They sat in companionable silence for a while before they both dropped off to sleep.

{[\|/]}

Haku was startled awake by a bird singing. He sat up straight, shivering slightly at the early morning dew soaking his clothes, and looked for the source, only to bite back laughter when he caught sight of Terra. The other boy had vaulted to his feet, looking around wildly for the source of the noise, causing his black hair to whirl around his head. Wait…_black_ hair? Haku's eyes widened, as he was able to fully see his friend for the first time. His skin was really as pale as the snow around them, possibly paler, and that made his black hair, eyes, eyelashes, and eyebrows stand out starkly. Two faint lines were viewable under his eyes, on a diagonal from the bridge of his nose, and Haku remembered they were called 'tear troughs'. Everything else was the same, except that Haku could see exactly how much blood the fire-user had lost lately, enough to dye the t-shirt and capris he wore dark red.

"What was that?" Terra asked, eyes still wide.

"That was a bird." Haku explained patiently, knowing that Terra had never been outside before, at least not in the boy's memory. Terra turned, sharp eyes surveying Haku in the same way he had just been observing Terra.

"We've got to get better clothes, or we're both going to freeze." The older boy said finally. Haku nodded and stood.

They made their way through the woods, finally exiting on the banks of a river. On the other side was a small town. The two glanced at each other and wordlessly decided to split up and meet back here later. Terra went off towards the lower end of town, while Haku went towards the nearest part, a more residential district. Terra grimaced as he walked, nearly numb bare feet sinking into the deep snow. He took a step to his left, and his foot skidded out from under him, making him land hard on his butt on the frozen river. The twelve-year-old froze; pain splintering his awareness. Terra had yet to tell Haku what had happened when he was dragged off, and didn't intend to. The physical torture had caused Terra's pain tolerance to rise to a level far beyond what should _ever_ be acceptable, but he was still adjusting to internal damage. Terra grimaced and levered himself to his feet, forcing his brain to ignore the signals sent by the nerves, and plowed on.

Unfortunately, neither boy managed to find any _edible _food. Terra found some rather poisonous plants, how he knew it he didn't know, and Haku got in a fight with a dog over a torn loaf of bread, but neither managed to bring back food. The pair huddled on the bridge in the dying daylight, Terra cupping a small flame in his hands once more. Many people passed them, most not bothering to look, or those that did with looks of loathing. Terra forced Haku's head down each time, making him break eye contact and just focus on keeping warm enough to last the night. Several hours later, Terra's flame began to flicker dangerously, but the flame-user had already fallen over onto Haku's shoulder, his too-thin body wracked with shivers. Haku hugged his friend to him, rubbing his arms to attempt to keep the other warm. The flame sputtered once, twice, then died.

"Terra." Haku murmured, trying to shake the other boy awake, but to no avail. The boy looked up as a shadow fell over him and his drifting friend, just as Terra stirred slightly. The man had dark, spiky hair, and wore a vest over a long shirt, pants, heavy covered sandals, and gloves. A headband was tied at an angle around his forehead, and bandages were pulled tight over his mouth.

"Huh, little kids like you, with no one to look after you, you'll die a beggar's death." The man murmured, almost to himself.

"Hey, know what?" Haku asked, tilting his head slightly, "Your eyes remind me of mine…though a bit more of Terra's." Said boy stirred further, moaning slightly as he was pulled from an undoubtedly warm dream into semi-wakefulness. The man stared at the pair of them for a moment.

"Well little one, will you and your friend stay here and die, or come with me and be of some use? Will you serve me, and submit to my will in all things?" Terra's bleary eyes met Haku's, passing a message, and Haku turned to the man, nodding, "Then your special abilities belong to me, from this day forward." The man came closer and effortlessly lifted Terra, who moaned again in protest, with one arm, pulling Haku close to his side with the other, to which the younger boy burrowed closer to the man's warmth, "Let us go then."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

The next six years passed in a blur for the two boys. Terra and Haku were returned, or in Terra's case introduced, to full health by the man, Zabuza's, careful care, and both had nearly, if not mastered their respective Kekkei Genkai. Zabuza was thoroughly pleased when Terra developed his, and though he didn't show it, appalled by how high the boy's pain tolerance was.

The boys worked as a complete pair in battle, Terra a Yin to Haku's Yang. While Haku was the speed demon, Terra had the slower but more powerful strikes and combos, not to say he was slow, just in comparison. Terra had also exhibited a better control over fire, which had nothing to do with his Kekkei Genkai. Haku's own powers over water and ice had grown far _beyond_ his Kekkei Genkai. As for weapon choices, Haku decided to use senbon needles, which required deadly accuracy, and a short, easily hidden ninja-to. Terra wielded a pair of chakrams that were attached to cloth gauntlets with long, retractable lengths of durable wire, and a katana, which could be wielded as one or two blades, splitting into a pair with a flick of a wrist.

{[\|/]}

Terra shifted slightly, tightening his grip on the crossbars of his chakrams. Across the path, a small portion of Haku's white mask with a red swirl over the mouth could be seen. Terra's own mask was a reflection of Haku's, but the colors were inverted. The group of ninja they were stalking were steadily getting closer, and the pair of boys tensed in near tandem. Abruptly, the shortest of the group, a blonde in a blindingly orange jumpsuit, charged forward and threw a kunai at the bush where Haku was. Terra stiffened, then breathed a sigh of relief as he felt Haku appear behind him, the white rabbit they always kept handy having replaced the ice-user.

"Cutting it a little close, don't you think?" Terra breathed.

"I had to wait until the kunai caused enough noise to mask my jutsu." Haku replied, voice barely above a breath. The two boys watched as Zabuza engaged the group, especially Kakashi Hatake. The Copy Ninja had immediately revealed his Sharingan, which drew more than just his students' attention.

"Huh, who'd have thought. A Sharingan user." Terra murmured, "But why only…" he trailed off as Haku suddenly moved off. Terra quickly followed, keeping one eye on the battle and one on his path. Terra and Haku watched with clenched fists as their caretaker was thoroughly trounced. Finally, Haku found an opening and nailed Zabuza in the neck with some of his senbon. All of the people below were very surprised, and looked around until they found Haku and Terra. The two boys laughed slightly in tandem.

"You were right…" Haku began.

"It was his last battle." Terra finished. Kakashi leapt down and checked Zabuza's pulse, which of course wasn't there. The copy ninja sighed.

"No vital signs." Kakashi said as he looked up at the boys. Terra and Haku bowed slightly.

"Thank you. We've been tracking Zabuza for a long time. Waiting for this chance, to finally take him down." Haku said.

"By your masks, I see that you're tracker ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist." Kakashi said, referring to the four squiggled lines on each of the boy's foreheads.

"Impressive, you're well informed." Haku replied, being as pleasant as possible to keep tensions low.

"Ah, a tracker!" the blonde boy exclaimed.

"Naruto, you don't even know what that is." The pink haired girl said, "You missed the lesson on it, as usual." Terra felt his eye twitch at the condescending tone in her voice, "Tracker ninja have a special role. Try coming to class sometime." Terra glanced to Haku, who had an almost limitless amount of patience, but also had an annoyed glint in his eyes, "When a rouge ninja breaks away from his village, he carries all kinds of secrets with him. The secrets of his people. Tracker ninjas are specially trained to hunt down and eliminate them. That way the secrets of their people remain secrets."

"Yeah, that's about right." Terra said, "We're members of the elite tracking unit of the Village Hidden in the Mist. Our job was to catch that guy and kill him." The kids seemed to be rather squeamish about the word 'kill', but Terra just rolled his eyes. These kids weren't ninja, they were playing around in the big kids pool without floaters. The blonde ran forward, looking between the two 'trackers' and Zabuza a few times.

"What is this?" he exclaimed, "Who do you think you are?" when Terra and Haku stayed silent the boy continued, "Did you hear me?"

"Easy Naruto." Kakashi said, rising to his feet, "They're not our enemy."

"Huh?" the boy turned to his teacher, "That's not the point! Did you see what he did? Just like that? Zabuza was _huge_ and powerful like some kind of monster! And this kid, who's no bigger than me, he brought down Zabuza with _one _move! Like it was nothing! I mean, what does that make us? We're just fumbling around! We don't know anything! How can I accept that?"

'_Well, at least one of them knows it.'_ Terra thought.

"Well, even if you _don't_ accept it, still, it did happen Naruto." Kakashi put a hand on the kid's head, ruffling his hair, "In this world, there are kids who are younger than you, and yet, stronger than me." Terra jumped down after Haku, his Kekkei Genkai spinning quickly as he hastily covered the ice-user's retreat with a Genjutsu.

"Have a good day." He said, grinning slightly as he sped after his friend and teacher.

"Well, we should be safe." Terra said as he landed in a crouch at Zabuza's feet, sliding off his mask, "I left the kids and bridge builder with a Genjutsu about Haku taking your head and me setting fire to your body. Hopefully the Copy Ninja will just think that he imagined things, because his Sharingan might cut though that, even though he was only half conscious." The Demon of the Bloody Mist grunted, and Terra grinned, flashing his sharper than normal canines in a feline-like smile.

"Don't be a sore loser, we'll all get another chance in a few days." Terra said blithely.

{[\|/]}

Kakashi woke slowly, but he did wake. Shortly afterwards, he was bombarded with questions from his students. The only one that caught his attention though was a disgusted Sakura asking why the Hunter Ninjas had burned the body right before them. The Jonin thought back. But…the ninja _hadn't_ burned the body before them, as was code, they had _taken_ the body with them.

"Genjutsu." He murmured, eyes going wide, "The hunter with the red mask used a Genjutsu to cover their tracks."

"Genjutsu?" Naruto asked, and Kakashi sighed as Sakura began berating him for not paying attention in class.

'_We've got our work cut out for us.'_ The Copy Ninja thought, falling back and letting the kids' bickering put him back to sleep.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Terra grimaced as he put his mask on. He knew that Haku wore it because of the good memories he had of fighting with his best friend and mentor, but Terra hated that the mask cut off some of his peripheral vision…most of it actually. Due to his experiences when he was younger, Terra hated not being able to see all around him. The seventeen-year-old envied that one clan who had the Dojutsu that gave them a 360° range of vision. Terra shook his head, making sure his mask was in place as well as disrupting his darker thoughts. He had enough…he had Haku to look after, and he refused to let anything befall the younger boy. Haku's precious person may have been Zabuza, but Terra's was Haku himself. Terra leapt away, joining Haku and Zabuza silently, as any good ninja should.

{[\|/]}

The bridge workers were entirely too easy to kill. Terra let loose a bit and just caused some of them to spontaneously combust, taking out the others by bifurcating them with his chakrams, or stabbing them with his katana. Afterwards, they waited, hidden in the mist. They didn't have to wait long before Kakashi, the bridge builder, and two of the kids arrived. Zabuza increased the density and amount of mist. It didn't take much longer for Kakashi to figure out they were there.

"Sasuke! Sakura! Get ready!" Kakashi shouted, positioning himself at the head of their triangle. The girl and boy drew kunais and the boy smiled slightly.

"Kakashi-sensei, it's Zabuza isn't it? This is his Hidden Mist Jutsu." The girl, Sakura, said.

"Sorry I kept you waiting, Kakashi." Zabuza growled, "I see you've still got those brats with you. That one's still trembling. Pitiful." The boy in question, Sasuke, gasped slightly as seven Zabuza clones appeared around the group.

"I'm trembling with…excitement." Sasuke said softly.

"Go ahead Sasuke." Kakashi said, eye creased in a smile. One of the clones lunged, but was dissipated as Sasuke sliced through them all.

"Oh, so you could see they were water clones, huh? Brat's improving." Terra grinned ferally as he stepped from his hiding place with Zabuza and Haku, standing on Zabuza's left, "Looks like you've got a rival Haku."

"I thought that was me." Terra said, tilting his head so his bangs slid over the red porcelain.

"You're too close to be a rival, more of a partner." Haku replied. Zabuza and Kakashi bantered back and forth for a bit, most of which Terra tuned out. There was a strange feeling tickling at the back of his mind, a foreboding feeling that today wasn't going to be as successful as Zabuza had proposed. Terra twitched slightly as Haku rushed forward, clashing with the younger boy that was with Kakashi. They whirled around for a bit, and then Haku nailed the kid with his, "One Thousand Needles of Death." When the water that had exploded upwards fell back, Terra felt his eyes widen in surprise to _not _see the boy's body splayed like a pincushion. The boy and Haku began zipping around, until Sasuke finally nailed the older boy in the head, kicking him back.

"Haku!" Terra took a step forward, but stopped when Sasuke spoke.

"Thought you were quicker, huh? Now what else are you wrong about?" he sneered.

"You made a big mistake insulting these ninja, and calling them brats." Kakashi said flatly, "That's just guaranteed to bring out Sasuke's attitude. He's the best young fighter of the Hidden Leaf Village. And Sakura here is our sharpest mind. And last but not least, our number one, hyperactive, knuckle head ninja is Naruto Uzumaki." Zabuza chuckled slightly.

"Haku, Terra, if we keep going like this, we'll be the victims instead of them. Get on with it."

"Right." Terra and Haku said in sync. Terra made to stand with Haku, but Zabuza tapped Terra's shoulder.

"Take that ridiculous mask off. I know you only wear it because Haku does, but I want to see Kakashi's reaction." He said, loud enough to carry to the other group. Terra, though puzzled, complied, shaking his bangs out to fall around his face, his long black ponytail shaking too. Sasuke and Kakashi both made surprised noises, Sasuke more so than Kakashi. The boy's mouth had dropped open slightly. Terra raised an eyebrow.

"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue?"

"Itachi." The boy breathed, barely within hearing range, then he shook his head violently, "Who are you!" Terra's other eyebrow rose.

"Uh, Terra." He said, slightly confused.

"Family name, what's your family name?" the boy hissed. Terra shrugged in a blasé manner.

"Dunno." That seemed to surprise the Konoha ninja.

"How can you not know your family name?" Sakura asked with a smart-aleck tone.

"Hey, I don't even know if I have a family. Back off kid." Terra snapped. The girl took a minor step back at the tone. Haku put a hand on Terra's shoulder.

"They don't know, just ignore them." He murmured. Terra nodded, leaning his head back.

"Right, thanks." Terra said, snapping his head down, eyes blazing. The group of Konoha ninja made noises of surprise.

"Y-You are-!" Kakashi trailed off.

"But that's impossible! Everyone was killed!" Sasuke shouted. Terra raised an eyebrow.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'm just going to start trying to kill you now." Terra said, unhooking his chakrams from their holsters on his sides.

"You must have realized what Terra's Kekkei Genkai is." Zabuza said, and though there were bandages hiding his face, you could tell he was smiling a predator's smile, "He's as much a prodigy as the infamous Itachi Uchiha." Terra looked back at Zabuza, questions burning in his solid red eyes. Three black tome spiraled around his pupil, moving sluggishly in the lull of action.

"Zabuza?" Terra asked.

"I'll explain afterwards. I think you're ready." The swordsman said. Terra nodded, facing the group of Konoha ninja with a feral grin.

"Time to get this show on the road." The fire-user said lowly, flame sparking around the blades of the chakrams, which he began to spin.

{[\|/]}

Terra ended up fighting a slew of shadow clones, courtesy of Kakashi. The appearance of the blonde kid, apparently Naruto, was a little surprising. But Haku had a firm grip on that battle. Terra let himself fall into the easy actions of fighting. If there was one thing he knew how to do, it was fight. The seventeen-year-old had almost fallen into a trance-like state when the sound of a flock of birds chirping caught his attention. A firestorm cleared Terra's vision, dispelling the last of the shadow clones in time for him to see Kakashi charging at Zabuza, hand filled with what appeared to be lighting.

'_Zabuza. I'm sorry.'_ Terra thought, knowing there was almost no way for him to get there in time. Movement flickered at the edges of Terra's vision, and he turned to see Haku charging forward.

'_Haku! No!' _There was a series of sharp snaps, followed by a sick squelching sound, and a splatter of blood.

"NO!"

* * *

Yes, I know, you're all going to hang me for leaving a cliffhanger for the first chapter, but honestly, it'll keep you reading won't it? Just so you can find out what happens. This will be updated sometime next week, probably Wednesday. In any case, I hope you enjoy, and please give me some feedback.


	2. Chapter 2

Okay, so I know I said I'd do this next week, but I can't wait for it any longer. I'm too excited. I've been getting more hits on this in four days than any of my other stories. In any case, I think I can handle an 'every four days' posting pace for a bit in any case.

So, without further ado, here is the second chapter of Fire and Ice…

P.S. I don't own anything but Terra, yadda, yadda, yadda. :D

* * *

Chapter II: A Dancing Leaf, a Striking Snake, and a Flickering Flame

* * *

Kakashi kept a sharp eye on Haku, who sat against the wooden wall of the bridge builder, Tazuna's, house. The boy still stared out into space, a heartbroken expression on his face. The results of the battle had hit him, hard, and it was showing. Even worse was the aftermath, the discoveries that had occurred in the wake of Gato's death. Haku still clutched Terra's sword, which was blood smattered but mercifully sheathed, and the fragmented crosspieces of the other boy's chakrams. The Copy-ninja sighed, thinking back on what had ended the battle, at least for the boy before him.

{[\|/]}

Drip, drip, drip._ The soft splatter of blood hitting concrete permeated the air, which had suddenly become very still. Every eye was trained on the figure standing before Zabuza. Kakashi's eyes were wide with surprise, as were Zabuza's. This was something that neither had seen coming. _

"_Terra?" Haku murmured. He stood five feet from the trio of people, eyes wide. Terra's gray uwagi was beginning to be stained with blood, his black hakama absorbing the crimson. Blood ran down his pale arms, which were crossed in front of him. Terra's chakrams were held in a defense position, his knuckles white as they gripped the cross guards. The blades had shattered when Kakashi's hit had landed, and the fragmented blades now peppered Terra's torso and arms. One fragment had sliced at his face, marking a bold line diagonally across his left eye, parallel to the tear trough on that side, thankfully missing the actual tissue. Terra shifted slightly, and one of his booted feet slid slightly in the pool of blood, which was growing alarmingly fast. _

"_Why…Terra?" Haku said, louder this time. _

"_Because." Terra rasped around the blood oozing from his mouth, "You are…my…precious person." And with that, the boy fell forward, dropping the crosspieces of his broken weapons, which fell apart. Kakashi managed to catch Terra, and leapt out of the way of Zabuza's strike. Haku had managed to wobble over to where Kakashi had laid Terra, and had now fallen to his knees, tears streaming down his pale face._

"_Terra. Why did you do it, Terra?" Haku murmured again, resting a hand on Terra's blood spattered face. _

"_I told you," Haku jumped as Terra grasped the hand on his face, fingers fumbling slightly from the blood that slicked them. _

"_But, why?" Haku asked. Terra's right eye slid open, looking at the younger boy with his heavy gaze. Heavy with pain, suffering, and knowledge of the darkest parts of the world. Haku could almost see Terra's pupils, which he had been surprised to learn were slitted like a cat's rather than round. _

"_I made…a promise." Terra said, breath labored from the effort to breathe while one of his lungs was filling with blood, "I made…a promise…to myself. That I would…protect you…until…I died." _

"_Why?" Haku cried, "Why would you do that?"_

"_Because…you…saved…me." Terra sighed, eye falling closed._

"_Terra?" Haku frantically shook the boy's shoulder, "Terra! TERRA!"_

{[\|/]}

Zabuza's death had hit Haku hard too, so it was no surprise the state that the boy was in right now. Kakashi and Haku's eyes snapped to the hallway as hurried footsteps approached. Sakura suddenly appeared in the doorway, a smile lighting up her still childish face.

"He's waking up!" she exclaimed. Haku was already past her, and Kakashi was right behind him. Once they reached the room that had been set aside for the injured, Haku dashed to his friend's side, eyes wide but mouth set. Sasuke and Naruto were also there. Terra groaned and slowly opened his eyes and grimaced, slamming them shut again and fumbling around for something to apparently cover his face with.

"Aw damnit, fucking sunlight!" he hissed, and Haku sat back with a relieved laugh.

"You never change do you?" the ice-user said with a small smile. Terra peeked out from behind the blanket, eyes squinted at the brightness.

"Uh, no?" he said hesitantly. Slowly, Terra released the covers and looked around, raising an eyebrow at the Konoha ninja.

"Seeing as you guys aren't leaping at our throats, I'm gonna take a wild guess here and say that you won." Terra said, sitting up slowly, wincing at the pain that movement caused.

"In a way, yes." Kakashi said, smiling beneath his mask. Terra nodded and began peeling off his bandages.

"Hey wait a minute! Those need to heal!" Sakura shouted, but Terra ignored her. The bandages fell away and there was a round of gasps from the Konoha ninjas as the skin beneath was revealed, perfectly smooth and pale.

"I'm a little different than what you're used to." Terra said, smiling ruefully.

"H-how…and before, you stopped breathing and your heart stopped, you were dead!" Sakura rambled. Haku was watching Terra, eyes holding the same questions, but restraining from asking them. Terra sighed and his smile became bitter and broken.

"My soul, corrupted by vengeance, hath endured torment, to find the end of the journey." Terra murmured lowly, shaking his head, "I'll tell you but there's a lot of backstory. Haku will probably want to hear this too, so I might as well explain now. After all, it's Haku's story too." Haku helped Terra sit back against the wall under the window, and then sat next to him, giving the other boy something to lean against.

"Okay," Terra grimaced as he straightened his back, but shook it off, "so Haku told you about his ass of a father?" Sakura winced slightly at the coarse language, but all of the Konoha ninja nodded, "Well, he didn't tell you what happened after his mother died, and for good reason."

"That bastard sold me." Haku spat. The Konoha ninja's eyes widened.

"What? Why? What can you get for a person?" Naruto asked. Terra facepalmed.

"Money you idiot. And people buy other people all the time. It's called slavery, human trafficking, captivity, you get the gist?" Terra snapped. The blonde nodded fervently, obviously frightened.

"Well, as I said, he sold me to a slavery ring. I was terrified, and the guards weren't helping, jeering, making jokes, and spinning lies about the guy I was going to share a cell with. I was trembling with fright by the time they left, but the guy who was already in the cell set me straight, rather quickly too."

"Hey, I wasn't nearly as bad as they were saying. Besides, I only bit _them_." Terra said, a small smile emerging on his face.

"Wait, _you_ were in the cell?" Sakura exclaimed. Terra nodded, smile rueful again.

"Yeah, that's how we met." He said, taking in their shocked expressions.

"You must have escaped though, otherwise you wouldn't be here." Kakashi said evenly. Terra and Haku nodded.

"Yes, but not until two years later." Haku said.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked, just barely hiding the sneer from his voice. Terra shot him a glare, kicking the nearby pillow at him.

"Shut up, asshole." He spat, "It took us that long because when they brought Haku in, he was only seven and scared out of his mind. I would have escaped much sooner, but the place where we were being held was an underground catacomb. I couldn't remember the way out because I'd basically been in there my whole life!"

"H-how old were you?" Sakura asked quietly, keeping a hand over Naruto's mouth to keep him from asking about whatever his question was. Terra looked down at his hands, which lay in his lap as he did mental math to the best of his abilities.

"I…I was nine when they brought Haku in. I don't know how old I was when they kidnapped me. The only way I know that my parents didn't just give me up was the fact that the guards who did it liked to gloat about it. I only know that I was too young to remember anything. I can't remember where I'm from, my family…nothing." Terra clenched his hands into fists, "You can't imagine the fear, the _hopelessness_ that rules places like that. It's awful, never knowing if you'll even wake up the next day. Learning to ignore the hunger that tears at your insides day after day. Hearing the screams echoing from those who have been bought, being dragged from their cells by a chain around their necks. It's enough to break most people. Ninja are especially prized because they usually have special abilities or at least more strength than the average person. The only thing better is when they're children. We were lucky, so damn _lucky_ that we weren't chosen before we could escape."

"How _did_ you manage to escape?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, after I got around to telling Terra that I knew the way out, it took us about three months because of a slight…hitch in our planning." Haku said.

"Hitch? What hitch? What happened?" Naruto finally exclaimed.

"Well, there are two ways that they would discipline those whose spirits weren't breaking fast enough for their liking." Haku began, "One, and the more gruesome of the two was that the person would be sent farther down in the catacombs. The other, well…the person would be dragged off to be disciplined. I never had that happen, but Terra…"

"That was our hitch." Terra said lowly, "The bastards in charge decided that I'd gone long enough without bending to their rules and it was time to break me." The teen started to pull his knees up to his chest, but stopped for a moment, as if remembering phantom pains, before wrapping his arms around his legs and resting his chin on his knees, "You can't imagine what it was like. The first time, when they first dragged me into that room, the smell was what I really remember. It smelled like blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids. I was so terrified that I couldn't even scream. They chained me up to the wall and…" Terra broke off; eyes clenched shut and fists clenched so hard that the knuckles were turning white. He swallowed hard, and breathed slowly, in and out, in and out.

"Terra?" Haku murmured, "You don't-"

"Yes, I do. Zabuza's the only one who weaseled it out of me before now, but…I've got to tell someone." Terra interrupted, "The depraved man that was waiting for me was a scientist. He used several experimental drugs on me, as well as testing human reactions to certain stimuli."

"What kind of stimuli?" Sakura asked. Terra leveled a grave look her way, and the girl flinched.

"Several kinds, epidermal torture, poison injected into the blood stream, being lacerated with a whip, broken bones, dislocated joints. He told me that he would have tried a firebrand, but because of my abilities over fire, which he somehow knew about, it would be useless. Fire never harms me, and heat only makes me stronger. Instead, he exposed me to dry ice, liquid nitrogen, and frozen metal rods. The worst was the internal torture though." Here Terra shivered, remembering the cold that sapped his internal heat and nearly killed him, "He remodeled my digestive system on a molecular level. Because of that, I can't eat or drink anymore. I just have to have access to chakra."

"But, how is that possible?" Sakura exclaimed, earning her a deadpan look from Terra.

"You really think I know? I'm just lucky he explained what he did to me. The man was under the assumption that as an experiment, I had no more rights than a rat or a mouse." He said.

"That's not all…is it?" Haku asked softly, "What was it that he did that made you so cold that first time?" Terra stiffened, a pained look crossing his face.

"There was a reason he remodeled my insides. He…he was especially fond of…putting things…inside people…in specific places." Terra said, not looking at any of them.

"Huh? What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto asked.

"Naruto, Sakura, drop it." Kakashi said suddenly, "You don't want to know." Terra looked from Kakashi, who had an understanding look in his visible eye, to Haku, whose face was shadowed by his bangs.

"H-Haku?" Terra murmured. The younger teen suddenly lunged forward, pulling Terra into a crushing hug.

"Haku?" Terra asked, louder.

"You made that promise." Haku said quietly, "You made that promise that night. The first night they dragged you back in a broken, bleeding heap. Why? All I did was try to keep you warm." Terra put his hands on Haku's shoulders and moved the younger teen away a bit so he could look him in the eye.

"Yeah, and because of that, I was able to build up enough internal heat to fight off the cold." He ruffled Haku's hair, "Besides, I wasn't going to let you stay there. I knew you were going to be a great ninja, but only if someone gave you the incentive to train. A reason to keep going."

{[\|/]}

A week or so after the fight on the bridge, the workers finished construction. Everyone had healed up from the battle, and Kakashi had convinced Terra and Haku to come back to Konoha with them. So the six stood on the end of the bridge, Naruto saying good-bye to the bridge builder and his family. Finally, after several embarrassing minutes, the group left. Haku and Terra paused on top of the slight rise, looking out towards the cliff where they'd buried Zabuza.

"Good bye, Zabuza." The murmured together. Then the pair turned and left, following Team Seven back to the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Terra dropped the grocery bags on the small table in the kitchen. He and Haku had been granted citizenship shortly after their arrival in Konoha. Terra, who was paranoid about money and had all of his, Haku's, and Zabuza's savings on him at all times, had purchased a small flat for the two teens. They had managed to find some decent secondhand futons and bedding, a couch, and a couple of armchairs. Thankfully the apartment came with the major appliances. Haku had gone out to find a good weapons store, while Terra had gone shopping for groceries. It was easier for them; especially after the explanation session they'd had in the Land of Waves, than most because they only had one person to feed. Terra looked up as Haku entered, locking the front door behind him and stepping out of his shoes.

"Any luck?" Terra asked as he began to put away the perishables.

"There were a few promising ones, but I got distracted with a message from Kakashi." Haku said, joining Terra in putting things away.

"Oh? What did he want?" Terra asked.

"Well, he said that the Hokage wants to see us." Terra froze.

"What! Why didn't you say so sooner?" he exclaimed, throwing the rest of the things in cupboards and racing towards the door. Haku was hot on his heels, and the pair raced out of the apartment, barely managing to lock the door after them. They darted over the rooftops to the Hokage tower, then up the stairs to the floor where his office was. They skidded to a halt in front of the door and Terra knocked.

"Enter." An older voice called. Terra and Haku spared a glance at each other, and then stepped into the room. Kakashi was leaning up against the wall, reading from a small orange book. The third Hokage sat at his desk, smoking a pipe. The two teens stopped and bowed in tandem.

"So, you must be Haku and Terra." the Hokage said. The boys nodded.

"Kakashi tells me that you are quite skilled. Have either of you ever tested for Chunin?"

"No sir." Haku said.

"Hmm, well, we'll have to fix that won't we?" Haku and Terra shared confused glances. The third Hokage smiled and produced two slips of paper.

"These are application forms for the Chunin exams." He said, handing them to Terra, who passed one to Haku, "If you decide to participate, you sign them and turn them in to room 301 in the Academy at three p.m. on the thirteenth." The forms had a formal statement saying that the Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, recommended them for the Chunin exams.

"Three pm on the thirteenth." Haku stared at the paper, "Shit! That's in twenty minutes!"

"Better get going then." Kakashi said nonchalantly. Terra and Haku whirled, darting back out the door.

"Kakashi, are you sure?" the Hokage murmured. The silver haired ninja nodded.

"Yes, those two are definitely qualified for Chunin, if not Jonin. And I told you about Terra…" The Hokage nodded, lacing his fingers together.

"Yes, that boy…I can certainly sense his determination, not to mention his will to protect. It will certainly be interesting this year."

{[\|/]}

Terra grimaced under his mask as he leaned against the wall. After so many years working with just Haku and Zabuza, being around this many people was making him antsy. On their way over, Haku had rushed back to the apartment to get their masks, having almost read Terra's mind on that front. Despite not liking the lack of peripheral vision while wearing them, Terra would use the mask as a way to keep some distance between him and the rest of the participants. The two boys had arrived shortly before Sasuke, Naruto, and Sakura. They were off to the side, watching the trio talk with several other Genin who looked about their age.

"Hey, you guys. You might want to try keeping it down a little." The duo's attention was pulled to a silver haired young man with glasses, "I mean, no offense, but you're the nine rookies, right? Fresh out of the academy? I wouldn't go making a spectacle of yourselves. Just cool it. This isn't a class field trip."

"He doesn't know the meaning of cool." Haku murmured. Terra snorted, shaking his head.

"That's an understatement. None of them know the real meaning of bringing the heat either. We might just have to show them." He said, crossing his arms.

"Are you ready for this?" Haku asked.

"Yeah, you?" Terra replied.

"I would have thought you'd have been a bit more worried. After all, your weapons of choice are still out of commission." Haku said. Terra grimaced.

"Yeah, that's not helping, but I'm sure we'll be fine." He said.

"Hey, Kabuto. Do you know anything on those two guys?" one of the younger Genin asked, the one with a dog on his head. The whole group turned to look at Terra and Haku.

"No, I don't actually." The silver haired Genin, Kabuto, said softly.

"Shall we?" Terra asked. Haku nodded and the two moved forward. A few of the group backed up, nervous about the approaching teens.

"Sasuke, Sakura, Naruto, good to see you." Haku said softly.

"Yeah, we wondered how long it would take you to notice us." Terra said.

"What are you guys doing here?" Naruto asked.

"What do you think? Selling cookies?" Terra deadpanned. In another universe, several teenage girls in green, brown, blue, and kaki vests or sashes sneezed.

"Who _are _you guys though?" a brunette with his hair pulled back into a high ponytail that made him look like a pineapple asked.

"My name is Haku, and that is Terra. We…met these three on a mission they had in the Land of Waves." Haku said.

"So, did Kakashi-sensei recommend you for the exams?" Sakura asked.

"He mentioned it to the Hokage, who put in a special request for us to enter as a two-man team. We only got told about this about fifteen minutes ago." Terra said.

"Hey, if your masks have the symbol for the Village Hidden in the Mist, why did the Hokage recommend you?" asked one of the other Genin, a blonde with a long ponytail and bright blue eyes.

"Well, we recently became members of Konoha. Before, we weren't registered with any village." Haku explained, pulling his mask down far enough to show that the headband tied around his forehead now had the symbol for Konoha rather than Kiri, "We just haven't had time to get new masks made." He slid the mask back into place.

"Terra, where are your chakrams?" Sasuke suddenly asked.

"Uh, still in pieces. Thankfully we got all of the ones that hit me out. Do you really think I'd be able to get replacements for them this soon? I'll have to special order some after all this is over." The teen said, "Until then, I'm stuck with my katana." Terra twitched violently as he felt a heavy gaze land on him, and he turned slightly to see a ninja with a Rain headband staring at him.

"I'm going to go back over to the wall. Too many people have noticed you guys for me to be comfortable." Terra murmured, walking back to his spot against the wall. Haku followed, standing off to the side slightly with his arms crossed.

{[/|\]}

Terra glanced around, keeping his head still as he did to keep from drawing attention to himself. The man in charge of this part of the test, Ibiki, had given the list of rules at the beginning of the session. Several of the candidates had already been pulled for cheating…or at least cheating badly. He knew Haku could easily answer the questions on the test, more because of the years of experience they both had in the field. Terra, to his embarrassment, had forgotten to mention that he'd never learned to read, and that was keeping him from just outright answering the questions. However, they had both figured out what the test was _really_ about. Terra smirked slightly, his Kekkei Genkai beginning to spin rapidly, and as Ibiki turned to look at him, Terra cast a quick Genjutsu over his eyes to hide the Sharingan, but slowly enough so that the man got a glimpse of his Kekkei Genkai. The teen began copying the paper next to him, quickly filling in all of the blanks. Across the room, Haku had already distracted the boy beside him and glanced at the paper. Now he was filling out his own paper, calling on the image he had saved in his mind of the test paper. He glanced across the room, catching Terra's eye through the mask. The other teen was leaning boredly on one fist, flipping his pencil around his free hand. Haku smirked under his mask, seeing the glint of mischief in the other boy's eyes.

'_This will be fun.'_ Haku thought. Over the next few minutes, Haku began releasing waves of cold, just faint enough so that they would be barely noticed. Gradually, the room became colder and colder. Several of the Genin began shivering, fidgeting in their seats and trying to warm themselves up. Even some of the Chunin were trying to get warmer. Ibiki finally turned to one of the Chunin towards the front.

"Go check the air, this is getting ridiculous." He said. Haku smirked and stopped upping the cold. Momentarily, the air came on, blowing warm air into the room. Haku extended his senses and felt Terra releasing some of his chakra into the air, creating a wave of warmth to wash over the room. Several of the people sighed in appreciation. However, it wasn't long before several were sweating profusely due to Terra ratcheting up the heat. Haku himself was only exempt because he let out a burst of his own chakra in a tight bubble around him every time Terra did, to combat the heat. Finally, the clock hit the forty-five-minute mark. As Ibiki began to go on about the final question and its set of rules, the two elemental users glanced at each other. Terra dipped his shoulder, silently asking Haku if he wanted to quit. In response, Haku drummed his fingers lightly on the table, a solid no. Terra nodded and faced forward again. After about ten minutes of people leaving, Naruto raised his hand. Terra and Haku shared startled glances, before the blonde slammed his hand down on the desk. The older teens shook their heads slightly and smiled to themselves. Naruto was the number one, hyperactive, knucklehead of Konoha. Terra nearly had a heart attack and leapt to his feet when something cannoned in through the window. It was a bundle of cloth, and it unfurled, being nailed to the ceiling with a kunai in each corner, revealing the woman that had been wrapped inside. The banner announced her as being Anko Mitarashi, the proctor for the second exam. Slowly, Terra replaced his kunai, sitting back down stiffly.

'_These Konoha ninja are insane.'_ Terra thought, _'With a capital 'I'!'_

{[/|\]}

Haku and Terra took off as the gate opened, kicking up dust as they pelted forward. Terra kept one hand on his katana's hilt, while Haku kept one hand full of senbon, though his sleeve hid it. The two quickly took to the trees, Terra in the lead with Haku right behind him, moving silently through the upper reaches of the forest. About five kilometers from the gate, they stopped and glanced around.

"One or two?" Terra asked. Haku tossed an Earth scroll to Terra.

"Two, I feel like a challenge." He said, smiling beneath his mask. Terra shook his head and pulled out a thin scroll. He unrolled it and placed the Earth scroll on one of the many seals on the inside. A series of hand signs and a poof of smoke later, the Earth scroll was sealed away.

"Four hours, we meet up at the tower. One of us isn't there, the other goes looking." Terra said. Haku nodded and they both disappeared. Terra leapt though the trees, speeding forward.

'_Something's up. I can feel it. There's a lot more going on than just the exam.'_ Terra thought, leaping up and using his arms to grab a branch and flip over several feet of empty air, using several other branches on the other side as monkey bars. He dropped towards a larger limb, when a huge blast of wind tore through the woods and shredded the canopy of the forest. Terra, caught without a handhold, was sent flying, slamming into several trees before rolling to a stop on the ground.

"That hurt." Terra groaned, slowly propping himself up on his elbows, spitting out dirt, leaves, and grass that had found their way into his mouth, somehow getting past his mask. As Terra stood, the sounds of footsteps made him look up, peering through the eyeholes of his miraculously still whole mask.

{[\|/]}

"Terra?" Sakura asked, standing beside Sasuke, who held a kunai defensively. The teen in question rose, brushing off dirt, leaves, and other debris from his trip through the woods.

"What weapons do you usually use?" Sasuke suddenly asked sharply.

"Chakrams." Terra replied blandly, then, to keep up appearances, "How old was Haku when I first met him?"

"Seven." Sakura and Sasuke said at the same time. Terra nodded.

"Good, now, where's Naruto?" he asked.

"We're not sure." Sakura said. Terra abruptly turned to the right, eyes locked on the bushes. Suddenly, one began moving, then parted as Naruto ran out and staggered towards them. Terra's left hand twitched and two kunai slid from his sleeve and into his hand, hidden by his body. Sasuke noticed, eyes flicking from Terra's hand to his hidden face.

"Hey! What's up? You guys okay?" Naruto asked as he came close, slight surprise registering from seeing Terra.

"Don't come any closer." Sakura said sternly, raising her hand in a 'stop' position, "What's the password?" Naruto grinned.

"Oh, sure! No problem." He said brightly, "A ninja waits till the time is right. When the enemy sleeps and drops his guard. When his weapons lay forgotten in the stillness of the night. That is the moment for a ninja to strike." Sakura sighed in relief, but Sasuke and Terra tensed. Both boys threw their kunai, making Naruto dodge to the side, falling to the ground.

"What was that?" Naruto shouted, "You could have killed me."

"That was the intention." Terra said bluntly.

"Gotta hand it to you, you're quicker than the last one." Sasuke commented.

"Jeeze, already? You guys just attract trouble." Terra muttered.

"What are you talking about? What was wrong with that?" Sakura shouted, "He just got the password right word for word."

"Exactly, that's what's wrong." Sasuke said, "Do you really think Naruto could memorize all that _and_ get it word for word?" Sakura looked back at the disguised shinobi, "Not the Naruto I know, not in a million years. You'd have a better chance of teaching it to a hamster."

"Oh, right. You've got a point." Sakura muttered.

"Besides, Naruto doesn't move like that. I may not have known you guys for long, but I've seen him fight." Terra said.

"Alright, come out, whoever you are! Party's over!" Sasuke ordered. The disguised person sneered, then licked his lips with a rather long tongue, looking rather strange on Naruto's face.

"Aren't we the clever one?" he said, then disappeared in a cloud of smoke, revealing a female Grass ninja with a wide brimmed hat and long dark hair, "Tell me, if your teammate is really that dimwitted, why would you come up with a password he would never remember?"

"You see, it wasn't meant for Naruto so much as for anybody who might have been nearby trying to eavesdrop on us." Sasuke said with a smirk, "it was meant as a trap and you stumbled right into it." The Grass ninja removed her hat.

"I'm impressed." She hissed, "You certainly haven't dropped your guard, have you? This promises to be very entertaining." The shinobi licked her lips. Terra shook his head and grimaced.

'_And Haku thinks I'm weird.'_ He thought. The Grass ninja pulled an Earth scroll from the back of her belt. Sakura let out a little gasp.

"Ah, you'd love to get your hands on our Earth scroll, wouldn't you? It would go so nicely with your Heaven scroll." The Grass ninja then proceeded to swallow the Earth scroll, "Well, when this is all over, one of us will have both scrolls. And the other will be dead." A massive amount of killer intent washed over the three Genin. Terra's eyes narrowed and he grimaced, glad that his mask hid his face. This ninja obviously was expecting them to be frozen. A glance at Sasuke and Sakura showed that it worked at least partially. Sakura had sunk to her knees, face frozen in fear. Sasuke had downright fallen on all fours and was puking.

'_I'm probably not as affected by it because of my time with Zabuza.'_ He thought, eyes snapping back to the ninja, _'Who is this…no Genin should be able to deal out that much killing intent…except maybe an angry Jinchūriki…a _really_ angry Jinchūriki…or Haku when he wakes up on the wrong side of the bed.'_

"S-Sakura?" Sasuke managed to say, staring at the pink haired girl. The Grass ninja laughed.

"You're paralyzed with fear." Terra rolled his eyes, noticing that Sasuke was managing to pull out a kunai and get on his feet.

"Very good. Now what happens?" the Grass ninja asked. Sasuke was still unable to reply. The konoichi began moving forward, drawing three kunai.

"Don't worry, I'll make it quick. But I don't have to tell you that, do I? You've seen it with your own eyes." The Genin laughed again, raising her arm to throw.

"I expected you to be more of a challenge. How disappointing." And then she threw. Terra pushed Sakura towards Sasuke, and then dodged to the other side. Sasuke stabbed himself in the leg, then scooped up Sakura and bolted. Terra crouched; putting a hand on his katana's handle and drew another kunai.

"So that's how it is." The konoichi said with a smirk, and then looked at Terra, "You seemed a bit quicker on the uptake." Terra shook his head.

"Wasn't affected. I'm a bit more experienced than those two." Terra gestured over his shoulder, "The Demon of the Bloody Mist was my mentor for six years." The Grass ninja looked slightly surprised.

"Zabuza? And how did you manage to get accepted into a Chunin exam?" Terra shrugged.

"Not really your business now is it?" Terra threw his kunai, then activated his Sharingan, ducking the punch and throwing his arm up in an 'X' to block the kick. He grabbed the konoichi's foot, and twisted, pulling the other shinobi off balance and elbowing her knee. The Grass ninja managed to roll out of the way, bringing a kunai around to swing at Terra. Terra released the konoichi, shuffling back to dodge the kunai, drawing his katana, spinning, and slashing diagonally upward. The Grass ninja ducked and leapt away, throwing the kunai. Terra blocked it with his katana, making the knife spin off to the side. This all happened in a matter of heartbeats, leaving neither of the two winded in the least.

"You're rather good." The Grass ninja said, licking her lips, "I might get a challenge after all." Terra rolled his eyes. That was a mistake, because the eyeholes blocked off his sight long enough for a kunai to get close enough that he couldn't dodge fully. Terra was able to lean back far enough that the kunai spun around to hit with the hilt. The kunai clatter to the ground, and a large crack formed on Terra's mask. The teen growled.

"Damn it, I wanted to keep that until the finals." He said lowly. The mask fell apart, dropping in three pieces to the ground. The Grass ninja's eyes widened.

"Itachi…Uchiha?" Terra rolled his eyes again.

"Why does everyone think that? No, I'm not Itachi. My name is Terra." Terra tightened his grip on his katana, his Sharingan's three tomes spinning faster in agitation.

"You'll have to forgive me. But you do look a lot like him." the Grass ninja commented, ducking his head and grinning widely.

"So I've been told." Terra suddenly threw his another kunai and stabbed his katana into the ground, hands flying through hand signs.

"Fire Style, Grand fireball jutsu!" Terra shouted, expelling a huge fireball from his mouth. The konoichi dodged and ran forward again, engaging Terra in Taijutsu. The two went at it for several minutes, until an explosion was heard not far off.

"What t-!" Terra's attention snapped to it, searching for chakra signatures.

'_Sasuke, Sakura, and…but she's…'_

"A clone!" Terra's gaze snapped back to the Grass Genin.

"Striking Shadow Snake!" five brown snakes with darker brown markings shot from the sleeve of the Genin, Terra managed to bat aside a few with his katana, but the rest either bit him or wrapped around him. Terra grunted and snarled at the other Genin.

"What are you-?" the Genin chuckled and formed a hand sign, her neck extended, canines lengthening. Terra yanked his head to the side, but that only exposed his neck further. The konoichi bit down on Terra's neck, just below his jaw. It took a lot of strength for Terra not to scream. Even with his high pain tolerance, the bite _hurt_, more than it should. The snakes retreated, and Terra brought up his katana, striking wildly at the Grass Genin. She stumbled back a hand held to her face. She pulled her hand away to see it covered in blood. The Grass Genin began to laugh, one of the kinds of laughs that shook the whole body.

"You _are_ a surprise. Not many can still move after getting one of my curse marks." Terra grimaced and put his right hand to his neck, partially covering his right ear as a wave of pain lanced through his body from the bite. His left hand tightened on the hilt of his katana.

"Not many people…"Terra hissed slightly in pain, "Not many have been though what I have…and lived. I…I've had it rough." Terra staggered slightly to the side. The Grass Genin smirked, and dug her fingers into the scratch on her face, which was near her eye.

"To be honest, I was surprised to find another Sharingan wielder. To my knowledge, there wasn't another besides Itachi, Kakashi, and Sasuke." The konoichi pulled at the wound, her skin peeling away to show much paler skin beneath with a gold colored eye and black makeup around it, and her voice deepened to that of a man's, "Tell me, how did you escape the massacre?"

"W-Who wants to know?" Terra spat, glaring as he fell to his knees, woozy from the effects of the…_curse _mark.

'_What massacre?' _the fire-user ninja before him laughed slightly.

"It's no matter, I'll find out eventually." And with that, the man sank into the ground. Terra panted, slowly levering himself up and staggering in the direction of the earlier fight he'd heard.

"Gotta…help." Terra muttered, dragging his katana in the dust, unable to lift his arm to sheathe it and right hand still clamped over the mark. It took entirely too long for Terra to get close enough to stumble up a tree and be within sight of Sasuke and Sakura. The Grass ninja stood some distance away, holding a Heaven scroll, but he looked paler and more masculine. He was saying something, but from the distance, and the state of his senses, Terra couldn't understand what was being said. The heaven scroll began to burn, a green fire engulfing it.

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but if you've finished why don't you just beat it!" Sakura shouted, her voice shrill and high from a combination of fear and anger, "If we never meet again it'll be too soon."

"Oh, he and I will meet again." The man said, forming the hand sign again.

"Move!" Terra managed to shout weakly, but neither of the younger Genin did so much as flinch. Again the man's neck extended, and he bit Sasuke.

"Sasuke, no!" Sakura exclaimed. The man retracted his neck, and Sasuke slowly sunk to his knees, crying out in pain and gripping his neck.

"You, what have you done to Sasuke?" Sakura demanded.

"I gave him a little parting gift." Sasuke fell to his knees with a yell, "Very soon, Sasuke will seek me out…he'll desire my power. In the meantime, I enjoyed the demonstration of the powers you already possess." Sasuke let out a long yell of pain as the man sunk into the tree limb. Terra then concentrated on getting over to the two younger Genin, noticing Naruto was unconscious and pinned to a tree by a kunai through his jacket. Sakura looked up as Terra approached, gasping slightly.

"Terra, you've still got your Sharingan active." She said quietly, obviously surprised, Sasuke cradled in her lap and tears streaming down her face.

"Oh," Terra deactivated his Sharingan and instantly felt a wave of pain. He hissed and dropped to his knees, tightening his grip on his neck.

"Terra?" Sakura gasped, "He got you too?"

"No, he just painted it on, yes he got me." Terra snapped, panting from the amount of effort it took to stay conscious, "There's…there's a large tree several meters that way," he gestured with the hand gripping his katana, "with…with a large space in its roots. Good place to…to hide and rest." Terra's eyes squinted closed in pain.

"Okay, but…"

"I'll bring…Sasuke. Bring Naruto and…my sword." Terra's katana fell from his grip, thankfully staying on the branch. Sakura nodded and hurried over to retrieve Naruto. Terra grimaced and slowly got back on his feet, dragging Sasuke up too, maneuvering so that his left arm supported the younger Sharingan user. Sakura came over with Naruto on her back, and managed to pick up Terra's katana. The group made their way to the shelter slowly, and Terra collapsed, unfortunately taking Sasuke with him. Sakura got Naruto down, and then helped Terra get over to the side and sit up.

"Thanks." Terra breathed, gritting his teeth as another wave of pain roared over his nervous system, not quite managing to clamp down on the whimper of pain that bubbled up. Sakura went about tending to Sasuke and Naruto, worriedly glancing ever so often back at Terra, who just waved her away.

{[/|\]}

It was close to midnight when a pair of footsteps drew Terra's attention and jolted Sakura from her doze. Terra tensed and readied a kunai, while Sakura stared out at the darkness, eyes wide with terror. Internally, Terra shook his head.

"How old was I when you met me for the first time?" Terra asked.

"Nine." Haku's voice answered, "What do I want for Christmas?" Terra shook his head, smiling slightly, and then wincing.

"A hippopotamus, or a white Christmas." He replied. Haku seemed to almost materialize from the mist, looking down at them.

"You look like shit, Terra," he said bluntly.

"Feel like it too. My chakra control is fucked up right now." The Sharingan user replied, shifting slightly, and wincing, touching a hand to his neck.

"What happened?" Sakura glanced over her shoulder at Haku's question, looking at Naruto and Sasuke.

"We were attacked by a man named Orochimaru. He'd disguised himself as that Grass ninja that talked to our proctor today." Sakura frowned as she explained, "He went after Sasuke pretty quick, but I think he switched with a clone shortly after Sasuke got serious so he could fight Terra."

"Probably right. He broke my mask, so he saw my Sharingan and how much I look like this 'Itachi' character." Terra grimaced, clenching his hand on his neck, "He bit me, and according to Sakura, there's a mark there now. That bastard got Sasuke too." Haku moved forward and pulled Terra's hand away. A black mark was positioned, just below Terra's jaw line, under his ear. It consisted of three slightly curved lines, which spread in a rip-like pattern from a single, central point.

"That looks serious, we should get to the tower. We might get some help there." He said.

"You got the scrolls?" Terra asked.

"Sort of, only had time for one." Haku replied, taking Terra's hand and pulling the other teen to his feet.

"You're leaving?" Sakura asked, sounding rather scared. Haku and Terra glanced at her, then each other. Terra nodded towards Haku, who sighed and brought his hands up in a hand sign.

"Ice Style, Combat Clone Jutsu." He said, and another Haku appeared from a puddle of water nearby, which Haku had formed when he had arrived, solidifying into ice before taking on the teen's form.

"My clone will stay with you and set up traps, so you'll be safe against most of the weaker Genin. Remember though, that one hit will cause the clone to disperse. Especially since I'll be so far away." The ice-user explained. Sakura nodded, and the two older boys left.

* * *

So, what do you think? Enough of a twist for you? If this seems to be moving along very quickly, it's just my writing. My brain likes to jump around a lot, so my writing sometimes does the same. Oh, and thank you VERY much, Sleep Arypsure, for your review, I hope this makes you feel better…after all, Haku does live… :D

P.S. Anyone who can guess the origin of the quote that Terra used, and/or the people who were mentioned by his other comment before the first exam gets cyber cookies


	3. Chapter 3

Wow, you guys really like this story apparently. This has almost as many views as Digital Magic: Knowledge Gained! And this hasn't even finished being put out yet! Wow! Needless to say, I am blown away. Thank you guys, and thank you, those who reviewed! As for the guest who asked about Tenten's roll in the story, it should be coming up pretty quick. This chapter has a bit of her in it.

As usual, I don't own anything but Terra, blah, blah, blah.

* * *

Chapter III: The Touch of a Friend, the Trace of a Master

* * *

Hayate Gekkō coughed again, as he turned slightly to see the board, but before the names could begin to shuffle, the doors opened. The eight teams of Genin turned to look. Haku, still wearing his mask, entered first, bowing.

"Sorry we're late. The doctors were reluctant to let him leave." He said. The Hokage chuckled slightly.

"It's fine." He said, Haku nodded and moved forward, and a mask less Terra followed. Almost immediately, several ANBU Black-Ops surrounded the Genin. Terra ducked one strike and threw himself under another, sliding out of the circle.

"Stand down!" the Hokage ordered.

"But sir!" one of the ANBU questioned, "Itachi-"

"That is not Itachi Uchiha." Sarutobi cut across the ninja, "He is a certified Genin of Konoha. He recently arrived with his friend from the Land of Waves, in the company of Squad Seven." The ANBU stood down, and then disappeared. Terra straightened, shaking his head and sighing at the murmurs going around, most of which he could hear. Unconsciously, he reached up and traced the scar over his eye, from when his chakrams had shattered, as he made his way over to stand in front of Haku, who stood beside the brunette who had asked their names during the first exam. Terra glanced at the blonde girl beside him; rolling his eyes at the nervous looks she was sending him. Finally, the screen began to shuffle the names. Terra shook his head as the first two names were called. As the rest of the combatants moved to the upper levels, Sasuke and his opponent, Yoroi, stayed behind. Terra took up a crouched position balanced on the railing near Sakura, Naruto, and Kakashi. Haku shook his head and leaned on the railing beside his friend.

'_This won't end well. Judging by their appearances, Sasuke and his team just arrived. He'll be exhausted, while the older Genin has had enough training that it didn't bother him too badly.'_ Terra thought.

"So, is that what you look like without the mask?" Haku turned to see the rookie with a dog tucked into his coat.

"What's it to you kid?" Terra asked, not looking away from the fight below, which was not starting in Sasuke's favor.

"Just curious. Name's Kiba, and this is Akamaru." The kid said.

"Nice to meet you, we weren't properly introduced before the first exam. That's Terra, and my name is Haku." The ice-user said. As Haku socialized with Kiba and his teammates, Shino, and Hinata, Terra silently reached out with his senses, trying to figure out what Yoroi was doing. Instead, he was met with shock when he recognized one of the chakra signatures on the other side to be Orochimaru's. Terra was so shocked that he actually nearly fell backwards, catching himself only with his chakra.

"Terra?" Sakura asked, staring at the older teen. Shakily, Terra repositioned himself on the railing.

"It's nothing." He murmured, reaching a hand up to touch his own curse mark. Due to a combination of his shirt's flat neckline and his hair pulled into a ponytail, the curse mark on his neck, along with the seal that Kakashi had placed on it, was plainly visible. Kiba, immediately striking the Sharingan user as annoying and impulsive, noticed.

"Hey, cool tattoo." He said, "Where'd you get it?" Terra sighed and closed his eyes.

"Someone…gave it to me." He murmured. Sakura looked at him worriedly, knowing whom he was referring to.

{[/|\]}

Haku read the scroll on the wall aloud as Terra stared up at it. It was missing some parts, but they were easy enough to figure out. Terra closed his eyes, and as he was standing behind Haku, the other boy didn't notice the fire-user sway dangerously. Neither noticed the curse mark on Terra's neck flare with energy.

"So, this is supposed to signify what it means to be a Chunin." Haku murmured.

"Let's open the scrolls." Terra said softly, pulling their Earth scroll from his pocket. Haku nodded, producing a slightly damp Heaven scroll. They ripped open the scrolls and tossed them forward, so that the two summoning symbols on them crossed. Smoke billowed from the scrolls, and a figure began to take shape. Finally, the smoke cleared, and a familiar face greeted them.

"Kakashi?" Haku asked. The masked man smiled.

"Yeah, I'm here to greet you. As you don't have an instructor and somebody already asked to take my team, I figured I'd meet you guys when you arrived." He glanced over his shoulder at the scroll, "I'm going to take a wild guess here and say that you guys have already figured out this scroll and the meaning behind it." When both boys nodded, he continued, "Good. Well, you've got a few days to rest, so I'd make good use of them." Haku nodded and turned to ask Terra something, only to have to dash forward as the older teenager collapsed.

"Terra! What's wrong?" Haku exclaimed. Kakashi came closer.

"Was he injured?" he asked. Haku started to shake his head, then remembered about the mark on his neck.

"Sort of. He got in a fight with a man disused as one of the Grass ninja. The guy was way above Genin, probably even above Jonin level. Terra said that he bit him, and Sasuke." Haku explained, showing the mark to Kakashi.

"Orochimaru." The Jonin hissed, picking up Terra, "I've got to seal this before it gets too out of hand. I'll come get you when I'm sure he's fine." Haku opened his mouth to protest, but Kakashi was already gone. Haku ran into the hall, looking left and right, but there was no sign of either person.

"Damnit!" Haku growled, punching the nearby wall, "Why didn't I notice? I usually can tell when a person's chakra is messed up, but I didn't notice Terra's was nearly depleted until just now. Why can't _I_ ever protect _him?_" The ice-user rested his forehead on the wall, sighing in aggravation. Unnoticed around the corner, Hinata Hyūga hovered, debating on whether to go and comfort the other Genin. Eventually, the Hyūga decided against it and turned, retreating back to the room her team had chosen.

{[/|\]}

The third match of the preliminaries ended rather quickly. Now, everyone was again looking at the board, though Terra did so only to keep up appearances. For several seconds, the names shuffled, then they landed on a pair. Terra grimaced slightly when Haku poked him, standing and jumping from his perch on the railing to land near Hayate. The Rain ninja, Kagari, used the stairs. He wore a yellow jumpsuit, which was stitched up the front and sandals. His headband covered the majority of his head, including his eyes, and there was a rebreather over his mouth. He also had spiky black hair. Terra sighed and stood in relaxed position, waiting to begin. After Hayate gave the go ahead and leapt away, Terra again focused on his opponent.

"You might as well give up now." the Rain ninja said, "You won't beat me." Terra simply stared at him flatly. Kagari growled, pulling out a pair of kunai and preparing to throw them.

"Ninja Art, Kunai Rain!" he shouted, throwing the kunai forward. They immediately multiplied into hundreds of kunai that all shot at Terra. A large cloud of dust exploded outwards, hiding the results from view. The Rain ninja stood straighter, turning to the proctor.

"You might want to just call it. There's no way he could have lived." Just as he said that, a kunai whizzed by his ear. Kagari whirled to look back at the dust cloud.

"Unless you're dropping out yourself, I'd leave the good proctor out of this. If that's all you got, this'll be over quicker than I thought." Terra said. The dust cleared, making several people gasp. Terra hadn't dodged the kunai, hadn't even deflected them. Instead, he had stood his ground and now looked like Sasuke had after tangling with Haku, but with kunai. The Sharingan user looked utterly bored, despite the several kunai that had scratched his throat and face.

"How did you survive?" Kagari shouted. Terra shrugged.

"I'm a survivor. It's what I do. Though I admit, it's fun to piss people off when their opponent just won't die, not that I've got a choice in the matter." Terra then swiped his arm in an upward backhand arch across his body. Several of the kunai lodged in his arm flew back towards their originator, spinning through the air. Kagari dodged, and Terra slid forward, kicking up several kunai that had missed entirely and then catching them, throwing them back faster than most kunai were expected to go. This went on until Terra ran out of readily available kunai, and had to try getting out the ones in harder to reach places, like the middle of his back.

"How the hell did you manage to get one there?" Terra muttered, trying to reach, but unable to. Kagari, who had been panting during the slight respite from playing dodge-the-kunai, straightened, pulling out a small orb that appeared to be a smoke bomb, but was blue.

"Take this!" he shouted, throwing the bomb and launching himself to the ceiling. Terra gave up on the kunai and braced himself, only for the bomb to explode and flood the arena. The water rose until it was even with the bottom of the upper levels.

"Uh oh." Haku murmured, making Teams Seven and Eight look at him.

"What? What's wrong?" Naruto asked.

"Terra doesn't like to get wet…not like that anyways. It doesn't help that he can't swim very well. This match won't end well. He _was_ just going to disable the other guy, but they might need a body bag now," the ice-user said, focusing on the raging water just below.

"B-Body bag?" Sakura exclaimed, "But Terra wasn't doing so well before!" Haku shook his head.

"Yeah, because he was holding back. We didn't want to show off all our moves. Hopefully Terra will keep his head enough to refrain from his Kekkei Genkai."

"What's his Kekkei Genkai?" Kurenai asked, showing that she'd been listening in. Haku glanced back at her, and then focused again on the arena.

"I won't tell you directly, but I will say that it's more than mere coincidence that Terra looks like the famed Itachi Uchiha." Kurenai took a step back in surprise.

"W-What d-do you mean?" Hinata asked quietly. Haku shook his head.

"I did my homework while I was waiting here. The only reason keeping Terra from doing so himself is that he doesn't want to chance getting hurt. You'll see, come finals. Especially if he and I end up fighting each other." He said cryptically. Suddenly, the water, which had mostly stilled, began to steam, then bubble.

"What is going on?" Naruto wondered aloud.

"Ever seen a fire baked rock dropped into a bucket of water?" Haku asked.

"I suppose so." Sakura replied.

"Well, the water below us is in the bucket, and Terra's the rock. Things are about to get really ugly." Haku finished. As he did, a geyser of water erupted from the center. Several people had to dodge the hot water to escape being scalded. The air was suddenly filled with steam as the water rapidly began to retreat, the air becoming thicker.

"You really shouldn't have pissed me off." Terra growled, "I've got a bit of a short temper." The steam was suddenly burned away as a massive wave of heat surged through the room. Terra was now visible, standing on a mostly still water-covered floor. Flames licked at Terra's clothes and hair, and his drawn katana was sheathed in fire.

"But now that you have, you're gonna want to say your prayers…if you believe in any sort of deity that is." Terra looked up, showing that his face was also covered in the flames. His black eyes burned through the flames, glaring at Kagari.

"Now die!" Terra hissed, then he disappeared, leaving a crater in the ground, which quickly filled with water. Kagari appeared on the ground, flat on his back, and another crater appeared on the ceiling, only for Terra to appear, driving his katana into Kagari's stomach. The Rain ninja screamed, and redoubled the scream when Terra pulled his sword from him, leaving a cauterized wound. Slowly, the fire began to dissipate; leaving slightly reddened skin, and singed clothes. His face was actually burned, but before everyone's eyes the skin healed back to the way it had been, pale and smooth except for the scar over his eye. Hayate coughed and raised his arm.

"Winner, Terra!" He called, not having to examine the Rain ninja to know the match was over. Terra nodded to the proctor, then sheathed his katana. He chose to use the steps this time, as the medic ninjas took his opponent away. It was absolutely silent up on their side of the rail, as the younger Genin teams were staring at Terra. Haku raised his hand, and high fived with Terra.

"Nice, I expected you to downright pulverize him." Terra shrugged as he got back on the rail.

"I could of, but I usually use my chakrams to do stunts like that, and as I don't have them, I couldn't slash him to ribbons like I wanted to." Terra said solemnly, then turned to Haku and grinned, "Besides, it was worth it to see the look on everyone's faces." Haku laughed slightly.

"Yes, that's true." He turned to the board as it finished sorting. Beneath his mask, Haku smiled.

"Guess it's my turn. Good thing they didn't clean up the water." Haku vaulted over the railing and walked over to stand near Hayate as the other Rain ninja that hadn't withdrawn, Oboro, came closer. He wore the same jumpsuit and headgear combo as Kagari, but his eyes were visible.

"I'm gonna kill you for what your friend did to my teammate." Haku rolled his eyes.

"Why don't you try and back that up?" he said calmly, drawing three senbon.

"Let the match begin!" Hayate called, then got out of the way. Oboro got one hit in, right in Haku's face. The ice-user staggered backwards as his mask went flying.

"That hurt." Haku stated as he pulled his hand away from his face. Oboro reeled back, staring at the ice-user.

"What the hell? Are you a girl?" Haku's eyes narrowed at that.

"No…I'm not." He hissed, then disappeared, reappearing and flashing through a series of one-handed hand signs before slamming his foot in a puddle.

"Ninja Art, A Thousand Needles of Death!" he called, and then dashed away as the numerous senbon needles of ice crashed down. Up on the balcony, Terra snickered.

"Why are you laughing?" one of the girls asked. She was slightly older than Sakura, with brown hair pulled up into two buns on either side of her head.

"If there's one thing that absolutely snaps Haku's infinite patience, it's someone calling him a girl." Terra replied. Down in the arena, Haku reappeared.

"Now this ends." The ice-user said darkly, forming an ice mirror. The single mirror shot was something that was a looser variety of the ice dome, forming only a single mirror and allowing Haku to only speed in one direction. It was over in a few short, bloody seconds. Haku wasn't nearly as kind to the Rain Ninja as he had been to Sasuke and Naruto. Haku stepped out of his mirror and brushed his hands off, calmly walking over to his mask and picking it up. Thankfully, the mask was still in one piece, the punch having simply knocked it free of the holding.

"Jeeze Haku, I thought you'd gotten past the stage of using others as pincushions…at least without the voodoo doll between." Haku ever so elegantly flicked Terra off, making the older Genin laugh.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Terra moved through the back alleys, having learned from his experiences earlier in the exam that people were not a fan of whomever it was that Terra looked like, though the ANBU Black Ops attack was a big clue. Haku had put in an order for a new mask for him, which would dilute the effect. In any case, Terra had to put in an order for his chakrams _today_ if he was going to have enough time for them to be made and for him to break them in. He had some new design ideas that he needed to discuss with the smith, whenever he found one, to see if they would be applicable. It mainly included adding spikes to the outer rim of the blades, giving both more damage potential to the chakrams, and making it easier to attack while using them up close. Chakrams, by definition, were mid- to long-range weapons. True, with the added attachment of retractable wires that Terra had designed years ago, they became more easily wieldable in close-range fights, but a circular blade was much more easily deflected than a series of protruding blades.

Terra glanced around the corner, spotting one of the weapons shops Haku had pointed out to him; he could smell the forge even if he couldn't read the sign. Seeing, and sensing, no one in the immediate area, Terra left the cover of the alley and darted to the store. Letting himself in the door, he grinned as he felt the waves of heat coming from the smithy attached to the store. The sound of working bellows followed by the clang of hammer hitting hot metal and the hiss of that metal being doused in water filled the air. Terra's grin wouldn't leave. He'd been fascinated with the art of smithing since he'd watched one repairing Zabuza's sword once when it got nicked. The man had been a perfectionist about his sword. It probably didn't help that he was so attuned to fire. Glancing around, Terra took in the various weapons mounted on the walls. From masses of kunai and shuriken, to bundles of senbon, large fūma shuriken, ground spikes, and dozens of other weapons were displayed neatly on two walls as well as the single row of freestanding shelves. Swords took up the whole back wall, along with a smaller section of similarly large bladed weapons taking up the left side of the front wall, right at the entrance. A counter was to the right of the door, the only part of the wall that _wasn't_ covered in weapons, and fine jewelry was displayed in the clear front. Terra was surprised to recognize the woman behind the counter…though woman was jumping the gun a bit. It was the brunette girl from the Chunin Exams, the one that had lost to the girl from Sauna.

"Tenten, right?" the brunette's head snapped up. A single crutch lay against the wall behind her, signifying that she was still recovering.

"You're…Terra was it?" the teen nodded, still unable to wipe the grin off his face, "Why are you smiling like that?" Terra shook his head.

"I can't help it. I love forges and smithing in general. If I thought I could get away with it, I'd toy with learning it myself, but I really don't want to waste our savings."

"Our? As in you and your friend?"

"Haku? Yeah, he needs it more than I do. He's got potential to rise above and beyond. I'm glad that Kakashi decided to bring us back with him. I'd hate to see what would have happened if Haku was left to his own devices after our mentor died."

"You didn't do too shabbily yourself in the preliminaries." Tenten commented. Terra shrugged; looking uncomfortable, grin dying.

"Yeah, I guess. But…I'm nobody. No past…not really anyways, and no real future. I don't even know what village I came from." Tenten bit her lip.

"Sorry…" she murmured. Terra shook himself, pulling the small sketchpad out of his pocket and putting it on the counter.

"Anyways, I actually came here on business." Tenten smiled, swallowing her questions about this strange young man.

"Of course, what can I get for you?" Terra shook his head, smiling slightly.

"I need something custom made." He flipped open the pad to a page. Tenten's eyes widened, staring at the schematics before her. She helped her parents in the forge sometimes, had created most of her weapons, so she understood the ins and outs of weapon making. She glanced at Terra, who was studying his drawing, frowning slightly. She noticed that he'd tucked a drawing pencil behind one ear. Looking back at the drawing, she studied it further. Nothing was written, however, Terra had draw a scaled image of himself in the corner, and the page moved from the designed weapon being held by him, to progressively enlarged images, making an easy gauge of how big the weapon would be. Tenten could tell the base was a chakram, and it was connected to a glove by an extendable and retractable wire cable. Unlike most chakrams, which had breaks in the continuous blade for a handle, the proposed chakram had cross-guards in the middle, making an 'X' shape for gripping. Around the outside rim, eight blades extended, almost kunai-shaped, from the metal.

"You added the extra blades to give you a better edge for close-quarters fighting." Tenten stated. Terra nodded, smirking slightly.

"Yeah, you get real tired after the first couple of times your attack is spun off because your weapon is round. Glad you knew what they were for. Do you think that it's possible?" Tenten looked at the picture again, and then glanced at the list of projects that were supposed to be completed.

"You want it in time for the finals?" she asked. Terra nodded.

"Yeah, they're my weapons of choice, I use two at a time. I only use this when I really need it." Here he touched the katana handle protruding over his shoulder. Tenten did some figures in her head, and then nodded.

"Yes, it's possible. We might have to fiddle with the design just a bit, figure out the right width for the outer blades so they don't snap off the first time you encounter another blade. I'll see if I can talk dad into putting off some of the less time-pressed jobs so we can start figuring that out. Come back some time next week and we'll see how the first one turns out." Terra nodded, and began to tear the page out of his sketchbook.

"Wait, don't do that!" Tenten exclaimed. Terra stopped, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"How else are you going to have the schematics?" he asked dryly. Tenten rolled her eyes.

"Just leave the whole book. If you tear the pages out like that, the binding starts to come undone and then you begin to loose pages." Terra hesitated at her words, glancing from the book to her and back to the book again. Tenten was about to reply sarcastically, when she noticed that his eyes weren't debating on the truth of her words. She could see he was trying to decide if he could trust her or not. She also noticed that his eyes, which she'd thought were just a dark slate color before, were actually black. She could just make out the pupil, and was slightly startled to see it was elliptical like a cat's.

"Alright." Terra's voice brought her back to the present, as he pushed the sketchbook closer slightly, "I'm trusting you with my book. Please be careful. It was the first thing my mentor…or anyone, gave me." And with that, he left, leaving a slip of paper with neat handwriting that had an address and phone number on it. For a moment, Tenten couldn't figure out why, and then realized that it was contact information as a customer. She shook herself, blushing slightly, and picking up the paper, which felt distinctly cool, except for one place where Terra's fingers must have been where it was warm. She moved to flip the book closed. A page towards the front caught her eye, and she stopped, flipping back to that page. It depicted a fairly good sketch of a campfire in a snowy clearing. The image was from the angle of someone laying down, and her eyes widened as she recognized a much younger Haku. He was very pale, hair a wreck, and looked more than a little starved. Flipping the page, Tenten saw a title had been written in the same neat handwriting on the contact information slip.

'_Taste of Freedom'_

The brunette's eyebrows furrowed, confused. 'Taste of Freedom', what was that supposed to mean?

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Tenten and Neji stood in the middle of one of the more recluse training grounds, the weapons user helping the Hyūga practice for the third round of the Chunin Exams. They'd been at it for about four hours now, and Tenten could tell that Neji was exhausted. She opened her mouth to suggest a break, when a yell reached her ears. She and Neji both looked up, staring in the direction it came from. They both nodded at each other and took off, stealthily racing towards where the voice had come from. They came to another of the training grounds, this one more open, and both skidded to a halt. Haku was fighting with a clone, and the whole field was spread with ice. Every time his foot touched, more ice sprang outwards, swirling over the ground and forming spikes when he kicked off. He'd shed the turtleneck sweater, instead only wearing the short-sleeved kimono, hakama, and sandals. In one hand he kept a steady supply of senbon, while the other gripped a short ninja-to. The only time they could really see him was when he had stopped to turn, and even then it was barely past a flicker. Tenten gaped, and out of the corner of her eye she could see that Neji's mouth was slightly open. Haku was so fast; it was like watching Lee without the weights. It was even crazier because of the fact that despite the ground being nearly covered with smooth ice, Haku didn't slip, didn't even skid.

"It's rude to watch other people's training sessions." The two brunettes jumped, whirling around to see Haku…wait, _what_?

"I can make clones out of ice that work similarly to how your shadow clones work. I remember all that happens and all that they learn." The sixteen year old explained. His brown eyes observed them from the thin holes in his mask, making it nearly impossible to see.

"Sorry." Tenten finally recovered slightly, "We heard a yell and came to investigate." Haku raised an eyebrow, not that they could see, then nodded.

"Ah, you herd Terra. He's practicing about twenty meters further along. I think he set something on fire and was trying to douse it. Thankfully he chose the clearing with a stream. Last time that happened, he mixed up a water can with a jug of gasoline." Neji rolled his eyes and Tenten giggled.

"That sounds like him…" she murmured.

"Indeed, it's a good thing that our sensei had us each learn the Water Dragon Jutsu after that time, otherwise the whole of Konoha would be up in smoke." Haku replied.

{[/|\]}

Terra gritted his teeth, crouching on the ground and clamping a hand on his neck. He'd finally pulled off one of the more complicated moves he'd been working on developing, only for the curse mark on his neck to flare painfully. Annoyingly, it had caught him off guard, and he had let a loud yell get out. He could handle just about any pain, but this was pushing on even his tolerance.

"I thought Kakashi's seal was supposed to counterbalance this." Terra muttered bitterly. Worse, it wasn't an _actual_ physically caused pain, though it felt like a deep muscle ache. Shaking it off, Terra straightened and used a fair amount of mental effort to push the pain back and lock it behind a door at the back of his mind. Which was saying something with his tolerance for pain. He huffed, then began working on some more jutsu he'd dredged up from his Sharingan's copying power.

'_This is supposed to be used with a fūma shuriken and some kunai…but…I think I can make it work with my chakrams.'_ Terra thought as he spread fireover the metal of his new chakrams. That had been another thing to tweak with Tenten, but they'd finally gotten the right balance of metals so it wouldn't overheat too quickly. Now he had two working chakrams with the new design specks, fully paid off too.

"This is something I'm really gonna have way too much fun with." The seventeen year old murmured.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Terra looked up as he sensed someone entering the clearing. Leaping to his feet, he spun his chakrams once, setting them aflame as he did, and assumed a defensive position. After a few moments, Naruto came around a tree. Terra's eyebrows furrowed as he reached out with his chakra, sensing for anyone else in the area and coming up with one other, not too far away.

"Naruto, what are you doing here?" Terra asked, keeping an eye, figuratively speaking, on the other person. Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. He was still rather nervous around the older Genin. Even if he was usually friendly, Naruto had seen Terra in the midst of battle, and it was an almost one-eighty flip if he wasn't protecting someone.

"I wanted to ask you something." Terra tilted his head at the blonde's words, letting the fire on his chakrams die.

"Okay, but first, who's your friend?" Naruto looked nonplussed for a bit, then seemed to understand. Especially when the tall, white haired man walked out of the bushes.

"Your friend's sharp Naruto." The man said.

"Oh him? That's my trainer for the Chunin Exam!" Terra's eyebrow furrowed again at Naruto's loud response.

"Why isn't Kakashi teaching you? He's your sensei, isn't he?" Naruto looked put out.

"He's training Sasuke." He grumbled. Terra shook his head.

"And you're sour about it; of course. I don't want to give you false information, but…did it occur to you that Kakashi might be waiting for you to meet him in the middle?"

"Huh?" was Naruto's eloquent reply.

"He means, you have to work hard enough and show enough determination to show your sensei that you mean business." The white haired man put in. Terra nodded, clipping his chakrams to his back and folding his arms over his chest.

"Exactly. Kakashi wants you to show your own potential. And it would help if you stopped acting like an idiot."

"I'm not an idiot!" Naruto roared back.

"I didn't say you were." Terra said calmly, "However, you do let others think the worst of you. I've seen you thinking things over. If you would apply yourself, apply some of that hyperactive energy that Kakashi said you were known for, you would find things advancing much faster and smoother. It's not that Kakashi doesn't think you have potential, he's waiting for _you_ to realize you have potential." Naruto was staring at Terra now, and the older teen was staring off into space, "All your life, you've been told you were worthless, a loser, stupid, _dead last_. And eventually, you began to believe it." Naruto flinched, "Start proving them wrong." Terra focused on Naruto, staring unerringly into the sky blue eyes, "I grew up wondering if I would even wake up the next day. I didn't have a past, and as far as I or anyone else was concerned, I didn't have a future. I was either going to survive in the catacombs until the day I died, or I would be sold into slavery, and worked until I either was too old or too injured to anymore. And at that point, I would have died. But, _now_ look at me." Terra spread his arms, "I'm a ninja of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I was trained by one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist for six years, and I have a Kekkei Genkai." Terra rested one hand just below one of his eyes, "If I, a starved little twelve year old that hadn't ever seen the sun, can do it, you most definitely can." Naruto stared at Terra, stunned.

"Well said." the white haired man said, and Terra nodded at him. Finally, Naruto seemed to snap out of his stupor. He grinned, not his usual bright, misleading grin that hid his real feelings. Terra could feel the difference, and smiled slightly himself.

"You got it!" Naruto yelled, flashing a thumbs-up, "I'll train harder than ever!" Terra nodded.

"Good, now, you had a question? Well, ask away. I'll answer if it's not too personal." Naruto nodded, getting somber, then pointed at Terra's right shoulder.

"You…you got a mark like Sasuke…didn't you?" Terra froze, one hand unconsciously lifting to touch the sealed curse mark on his neck.

"I…yes." He said quietly, "That's…I messed up, big time. I underestimated my opponent, and he got under my guard. By the time I realized that a clone had gone off to fight Sasuke, you, and Sakura, she'd…he'd…whatever the hell that person was, used something called 'Striking Shadow Snake' to hold me still long enough to bite me." Terra looked up at the white haired man's sharp intake of breath.

"Orochimaru."

"Oh, is that his name?" Terra asked blandly, "Now I know what to carve on the guy's headstone when I kill him." The older man chuckled darkly, shaking his head.

"Better get in line kid. Besides, he's one of the three Sannin. What makes you think you can best him?"

"The fact that I was fighting the real thing for the whole time Sasuke was fighting the clone." Terra deadpanned, "Drew blood too. Got a slash on his face after he bit me. True, he wasn't expecting it, but a ninja should be ready for anything and everything." The man drew in a sharp breath, eyes wide at that statement, "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go back to training."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

The last fourteen days leading up to the finals passed in a blur. Haku and Terra were getting prepared to face each other, no easy feat even under the best of circumstances. Though the two teens were basically treating it as a beefed-up training spar. The two days before the finals, and everyone was resting up to be at their very best for the tournament. Haku stopped by the weapons' shop where Tenten worked, to pay off the last of the money owed for Terra's chakrams.

"Are you both ready for the finals?" Tenten asked. Haku nodded, having left his mask at home. It was too warm this time of year in the Land of Fire for him to wear the turtleneck he usually did, so after the first few days after the second exam, Haku had shed the sweater for a lighter muscle shirt underneath his outer kosode.

"As ready as we can be. We know we're going to be facing each other, but…we're unsure on which of us will actually win. With our respective abilities, it will literally be a showdown of fire and ice." The ice wielder began writing out the check, and Tenten did a double take.

"That's your handwriting?" Haku looked up, tilting his head slightly.

"Yes…" he looked down at his handwriting, then blinked, looking up again, "Oh, you thought it was Terra's?" Tenten nodded, and Haku shook his head, "I don't know what Terra's handwriting looks like, but I have a feeling that it would be barely legible when he's not copying from another. Terra never learned how to read _or_ write."

"W-what? How-"

"You'd be surprised how little a part reading plays in day-to-day life. At least for us. Anything that needed to be read, our sensei or myself usually read aloud. Terra though we didn't notice for the longest time, too proud and too stubborn to say otherwise. It's a major part of the reason he hasn't started searching for information for his Kekkei Genkai, because he doesn't want to take up another's time to come read for him." Haku signed off the check and handed it to Tenten.

"Thanks." She murmured absently. Haku nodded and turned to leave.

"Thank you for your help. Terra needs more friends." He said with a small smile.

"Wait!" Haku turned, looking at the konoichi, "I wanted to ask…when did that picture Terra draw happen. You looked a lot younger." Haku tensed, and Tenten began to seriously regret letting that query slip out.

"That…was right after we escaped. Terra drew that shortly after our sensei took us in. He said, 'So we'll never forget where we came from or how far we've come.' Every time one of us begins to doubt, we flip to that picture and remember that day. The day we escaped from the slavers." Tenten sat back on her stool, staring after Haku as he left.

"Slavers?" the brunette weapons user shuddered, "No wonder Terra doesn't know how to read and write. Not exactly an important skill to teach slaves." She hugged herself and went about tiding up the shop. However, she couldn't get the two older teens out of her head for the rest of the day.

* * *

So, what do ya' think? And yes, if you feel like going back through the chapters, there is no indication that Terra reads anything. I believe it's actually mentioned in the previous chapter...


	4. Chapter 4

So, this is later than I usually post, but I actually managed to get to sleep at a semi-decent time, rather than at three in the morning. So, here's the next chapter. I'm getting so many views on this, and it's not even all up yet! You have no idea how happy this makes me!

This chapter wraps up the Chunin exam and the afterwards. Also, we get some time with Tenten and addressing Terra's reading issue. Next chapter introduces a new arc…wow, I'm an idiot…I just realized I'd been neglecting to inform you guys of the story arcs…well, lets see...

Haku & Terra Introduction Arc

Chapter 1: Those That Are Precious to Me

Chunnin Exams Arc

Chapter 2: A Dancing Leaf, a Striking Snake, and a Flickering Flame

Chapter 3: The Touch of a Friend, the Trace of a Master

Chapter 4: Quaking Leaf, Melting Earth, Steaming Ice

Those are the arcs so far, the one coming up is the Return of the Slavers Arc, and it introduces a new character to the roster…well, not necessarily new, but you get the idea. I totally forgot about doing this list though, I feel like an idiot. I'll probably put it in the bottom author notes from now on, but here's the first update.

Aside from that, I don't own Naruto or any of its characters, I do own Terra, a very expensive computer, and three cats, one of which is named Squally Cat.

Without further ado, enjoy...

* * *

Chapter IV: Quaking Leaf, Melting Earth, Steaming Ice

* * *

Terra whistled lowly as Naruto's fight with Neji ended. The finals had just begun and already things were shaping up to be a day of surprises. He could hear several people in the stands muttering in disbelief over the fact that the supposed 'dead last' of the Ninja Academy had beaten the genius of the Hyūga clan. Terra shook his head, glancing at Haku, who was also shaking his head.

"Being a genius isn't all it's cracked up to be, eh?" the pyromancer asked. Haku lightly punched him in the arm. The two had both changed their outfits, deeming it time for a change as they were somewhere new and had different reasons for getting up each morning, though they still circulated around protecting the ones they cared for, that circle was beginning to grow, if very slowly. Haku had exchanged his heavier clothes for a lightweight, dark blue, short-sleeved gi, under a sleeveless black kimono top, a length of faded red fabric to use as an obi. He wore dark blue zubon pants, and black boots, the shins of which are covered in cloth kyahan. He also had a chainmail shirt on under his tops, but sleeveless. Haku had also changed his hairstyle to a ponytail similar to Terra's. It made it less likely that his ice would catch his hair when he was doing frontal assaults. It also helped that it made Haku look less like a girl. Terra had exchanged his uwagi for a sleeveless black one under a very dark grey gi, black zubon pants, wrist bracers that covered the backs of his hands, a black strip of cloth for an uwa-obi to tie his uwagi closed, and black boots, the shins of which are covered by chain enforced kyahan. He too wore a long-sleeved chainmail shirt under both shirts, and his gi was left open. His chakrams were now holstered on his back, over his katana's sheath, and he'd added two more kunai holsters to his left thigh.

The teens went back to watching the matches, which had accelerated to the match between Shikamaru and Temari, as Dosu had never showed up and Kankurō had backed out of his fight with Shino. Judging from the bug user's expression, that wasn't going to fly with him, no pun intended, and he'd get his fight out of the Sand Ninja sooner or later. It wasn't hard to guess that even from what little _could _be seen of Shino's expression. Temari and Shikamaru's fight went fairly quickly, and even though he was in a prime position to win, Shikamaru backed down from it because of his chakra running out. Naruto didn't take kindly to that for some reason, but Haku and Terra didn't stick around to see how that turned out. They made their way down the stairs, silently gearing themselves up mentally for the fight ahead. As such, they were slightly surprised to see Sasuke and Kakashi had appeared during their descent. After letting Sasuke and Naruto talk for a bit, Terra stepped forward.

"Oi! Some of us have a fight to attend! Get your asses out of the way!" he shouted. The two younger boys jumped, Kakashi and Genma having already noticed, Temari had already vacated back to the participant's balcony, and Shikamaru just didn't care. After a few more minutes, the extras retreated from the arena.

{[/|\]}

Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Naruto made their way into the stands to watch Terra and Haku's fight with Sakura and Kakashi. It helped that the view was better from the stands, giving a more aerial stance. Thankfully, the two older shinobi hadn't started fighting yet, still throwing insults back and forth, though anyone could tell it was in good spirits, the two taking everything good-naturedly.

"What do you mean I look like a girl because of my hair? Naruto thought _you _were a girl until you actually told him otherwise!" Terra shouted, pulling his chakrams out. He spun them once in tandem, before fire ignited over the metal. There were sounds of surprise from some of the civilians, but otherwise not much of a reaction.

"That's not exactly my fault, now is it?" Haku asked, pulling out three senbon with each hand, ice visibly condensing around the metal and his arms, acting as gauntlets of thick, solidified water. Terra spun his chakrams again and threw both forward, one after the other in quick succession. Haku dodged, throwing one handful of senbon, only to duck as one of the chakrams came roaring back towards his head. Terra reattached that to his back holster and leapt upward, fist cocked back. Haku disappeared in a burst of speed, leaving Terra to impact on the ground, cratering and cracking the surrounding field. The pyromancer just grinned, raising his head and yanking on the retractable cable extending from his right glove, brining his loose chakram back to block against a hail of senbon.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" Haku shouted, and a huge serpent of liquid water rose from behind two trees.

"Oh shit!" was all Terra could say before he had to dodge. The dragon impacted on the ground and quickly fell apart, filling the crater Terra had made. The older shinobi threw both of his chakrams, only to miss as Haku disappeared again.

"Ah, damnit!" Terra appeared higher up the wall, beginning to go through a series of hand signs, "I hate it when you do that." He drew in a deep breath, then planted his hands on the wall beneath him and exhaled in a controlled stream, "Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!" The jet of flame shot forward, incinerating a tree that was not far from Terra. Haku flew out of the foliage, dousing a few flames on his clothes with quickly conjured ice, then throwing a few senbon at Terra. The pyromancer dropped the technique, then let himself fall down from the wall, flipping to land on his feet and yanking on what appeared to be air as Haku drew closer, only for his chakrams to come hurtling back into his hands in time to catch Haku's strike with his ninja-to.

"You've gotten faster." Haku said, leaping away. Terra brandished his chakrams, lighting them on fire again.

"You're getting stronger." The elder said with a grin, then began swinging. Haku didn't move in time and was forced to fend off the attacks, which were delivered with bone shuddering force.

Up in the stands, shock was a major silencing factor. The Genin members of Team Seven were quite glad that neither of the two older teens had gotten very serious during their fight on the bridge, or that day might have gone in a much different direction. Kakashi was thanking his good luck, what little he had, that both teens had surrendered fairly easily, and had also decided to return with them. Even if they didn't advance in the tournament, both had more than displayed the qualifications of a Chunin level shinobi. Haku alone was scary enough, but Terra had held his own against Kakashi, albeit the teen had been fighting shadow clones, but that was beside the point.

"Did he learn how to use his chakra to enhance his strength?" Gai asked suddenly. He and Lee had appeared shortly after the beginning of the fight.

"No." Sasuke was actually the one to answer, and when they looked, his eyes were fading from the Sharingan red, "It's all physical strength, he's not directing any extra chakra into his strikes." Even the two Taijutsu users looked more than a little awed. Terra was, after all, making craters every time he struck, whether he hit Haku or not.

"That's crazy!" Ino exclaimed, eyes locked on the fighting pair. As such, she didn't see the members of Team Seven glance between each other, remembering Terra and Haku's story on their lives before Zabuza. No doubt, advanced strength was another of the effects of the experimentation done on Terra. Down in the arena, Terra suddenly jerked to a halt, and Haku disappeared. Terra began swearing colorfully, obviously he'd been in contact with some sailors, and swiping down, trying to reach his back foot, which was pinned to the ground with a trio of senbon.

"Damnit Haku! Really? You knew I wouldn't notice it until I moved forward!" Terra's shouts were absent of any indication of pain, and Team Seven was again reminded of his obscene pain tolerance levels.

"What do you think the point was?" Haku asked, appearing a short distance away. He held his ninja-to in one hand, guarding against Terra's soon-to-be charge. The older teen didn't disappoint, tearing the senbon from his foot and racing forward, leading with his chakrams.

"Uh, oh." Sasuke murmured. Haku stomped his foot on the large puddle that had formed after his Water Dragon jutsu, which he was standing on, and ice senbon began to form from the drops that showered upwards.

"Secret Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!" Haku disappeared as the cloud of needles descended upon Terra, kicking up water and hiding the pyromancer from view. The cryomancer reappeared and sheathed his ninja-to, gathering several ice senbon into each hand. Terra finally came back into view, looking over his ice-studded arms, legs, and torso with appraising red eyes.

"Why is it that no one ever believes me when I say you have a thing for voodoo?" Terra asked blithely.

"Because I usually only practice on you." Was Haku's snarky reply before he threw the senbon. Fire abruptly exploded around Terra, cloaking him in a thick layer of flames. The senbon already puncturing his body, as well as the ones that Haku had thrown, melted almost instantly.

"Good to know. I don't want to find out someone else has become a pin-cushion." Terra grinned viciously with overly sharp canines, the chilling image only accented by his spiraling Sharingan, which also accented the fact that his pupils were elliptical. He charged forward, fists and chakrams wreathed in flames as Haku reinforced the ice on his hands and arms before disappearing.

"What the-!" Shikamaru hissed, "He has the Sharingan?" gazes of the nearby Genin participants swiveled to the members of Team Seven, who had known the two ex-missing-nin before the exams.

"Yes," It was Kakashi who answered, "he does. We're going to try and figure out his lineage after the exams are over. We're not sure what part of the Uchiha family he comes from, but he doesn't know either." Sasuke made a 'che' sound as he turned back to the fight.

"He doesn't even know what his Kekkei Genkai means." The youngest living Uchiha murmured dryly.

"You're kidding! He's totally oblivious?" Ino asked, "How though? He had to have known about it before he left the village." Sasuke and Kakashi were quiet, Naruto was, seemingly, too focused on the fight to input anything, "Right?"

"No. He was taken from his home at a very young age." Sakura murmured, "He told us himself. He doesn't even know that he's originally _from_ Konoha. Terra thinks that he's just another ninja. That his Kekkei Genkai isn't all that special."

"It probably doesn't help that Sasuke and myself, both Sharingan users, he met on that last mission he had with their sensei." Kakashi inputted. A series of loud crackling noises, not unlike a lake beginning to thaw after the first warm rush of spring, ended the conversation and drew attention back to the arena. Terra was cemented to the ground with thick plates of ice, which were melting alarmingly fast from the heat his fire-cloak exuded. Haku had formed his dome of ice mirrors, and was beginning the blitzkrieg tactics he'd used on Sasuke and Naruto, though he was going about three times as fast and throwing kunai made of ice rather than senbon.

Terra was indubitably a tank, his stamina, pain tolerance, and strength making him about as easy to move or stop as a rockslide. He was certainly a very straightforward fighter, as his overpowered swings and attacks moved him in a forward direction and the momentum made it hard to turn easily. Haku, as opposed to this, was a speed fighter. He depended upon his overwhelming speed and flexibility to move around his opponents, and his knowledge of anatomy to disable them. Unfortunately, that last point was moot when it came to Terra, as his body would heal the damage nearly as quickly as it was done. In any case, the only way to defeat either of them was to put them up against another strength or speed fighter, respectively, of higher skill, or set them against each other, as was what had happened. In this case, however, the two teens were canceling each other's strengths out. Haku was raining down blows at a margin that made it difficult for Terra's healing factor to keep up. Terra, on the other hand, had freed himself and had burst out of the dome. He'd discarded his gloves and chakrams, simply for the fact that he needed the up-close strength, length, and speed of his katana, and was again giving out heavy, flame accented blows with bone shaking force.

"They're going to come to a draw." Naruto, of all people said out of the blue. Everyone who knew him looked at him strangely, but he kept his eyes locked on the fight.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"They're canceling each other out." The blonde replied, "Terra's taking more hits, but Haku's taking more damage." No comment was made, but several curious glances were thrown at Naruto. No one was used to hearing him so serious, not to mention logical.

"I've got about one more move, you?" Terra called.

"Same." Haku replied, "Usual final moves?"

"What do you think?" the pyromancer replied cheekily. The two skidded apart, both leaving smears of blood from numerous wounds, and stood about ten feet apart. The teens began flashing through a short series of hand seals. Terra finished with the tiger seal, while Haku was left holding the hare seal.

"Fire Style!"

"Water Style!"

"Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

"Raging Waves Jutsu!" the jutsu were released at almost the exact same time, and the two powerful attacks slammed into each other. The shockwave they created kicked up dust and debris, clouding the field below. It took some time for the field to settle, and when it did, Haku and Terra were both seen to be knocked out, having been propelled back into the walls around the stadium by the blast.

"Whoa." Sakura murmured, then quickly glanced at Naruto. She was sure she wasn't the only one who was surprised that Naruto had been correct in his guess of the fight ending in a draw.

{[\|/]}

Terra and Haku looked up as the building shuddered. They were both sitting in a room in the medical bay that was situated just outside of the stadium, having already been checked over. Haku hadn't been able to smother the snickers when the medics had tried to take the ice kunai out of Terra, only to be met with a wall of fire, literally, and melted ice.

"That didn't sound like it was coming from the stadium." Terra murmured. He tightened his obi and turned to Haku.

"We're going to investigate, aren't we?" Haku asked, staring flatly at Terra. Terra grinned and bolted for the door. Haku heaved a great sigh before sliding from his perch on one of the tables and following.

Outside they were met with chaos. Smoke was rising from inside the stadium, as well as from the wall. A few Konoha Jonin and ANBU Black-Ops were dashing around, attacking others wearing headbands from both the Hidden Sand and Sound villages.

"Haku, you're faster, go see if you can get any civilians out of the way of whatever's going down at the wall. I'll go see what's going on in the stadium." Terra bit out, pulling out his chakrams.

"Don't bother." The two boys turned to see Tenten approaching, Neji right behind her.

"The Kazekage attacked the Hokage, and now they're locked in a fight with each other. There's a barrier keeping anyone else out." Tenten explained, "There are some Jonin and ANBU keeping the civilians and those that couldn't throw off the Genjutsu safe in the stadium." Terra nodded.

"Right, then, I'll go investigate-" a resounding crash heralded the appearance of a trio of giant snake heads, "THAT! It certainly looks very interesting." Terra grinned as Haku facepalmed, and took a few steps towards the towering creatures.

"Terra!" he paused, looking back at Tenten, "Make sure you come back. I've got something I wanted to ask you." Terra blinked, then nodded and grinned again.

"Sure thing!" and then he disappeared. Haku turned to the two younger Genin.

"Let's go see what we can do to help out with the civilians." He said. The three of them disappeared too.

{[\|/]}

Terra didn't even pause as he leapt out into the air, headed straight for one of the giant snake heads. He immediately threw both chakrams, and used a combination of the trailing wires and the movements of the snake's body to wrap the thin cables several times around the neck of the snake. Terra used a kunai to make the chakrams ricochet back to him, knocking them off their curved course, and grabbed them out of the air, securing the wires around the bladeless parts of the edges before jumping over a thick, high stone wall. Admittedly, Terra wasn't the bulkiest of people, and as such was only about a third of the way down the wall before the snake's movement began to pull him up again. The dark haired teen blasted chakra through his legs, gluing them to the wall and with a titanic effort, dragged the snakes to a halt. Terra grit his teeth and grimaced, sending a tendril of both flame and chakra to wrap around his hands in an effort to cushion the impact of his chakrams' handles on his palms. He could hear shouts and exclamations from the attacking ninja, but focused on keeping himself in one place, rather than being dragged up the wall, which he was one nanosecond of a lapse in concentration from doing. Abruptly, the lines went slack. Terra shouted in surprise as he went shooting forward, only to be caught by a large toad. The teen shook his head as he was deposited upon the toad's head.

"Nice going kid, didn't think a scrawny guy like you could hold something that size back for that long!" Terra shook his head, looking up to see the white haired man that had been with Naruto.

"W-what?" Terra stared, then looked around frantically, "Where'd the snake go?"

"I got 'em." The man said, holding out a hand to help the teen up, "Thanks for holding them still though." He grinned as Terra still kept a wary eye on both him and the surrounding area, "By the way, I never introduced myself." He planted his hands on his hips, "I am Jiraiya! The master toad sage and a self proclaimed _super_ pervert!" Terra raised an eyebrow and stared flatly at the Sannin.

"Don't degrade yourself like that, it's embarrassing." He said blithely. Jiraiya smacked the teen upside the head, which just made him sway slightly.

"Don't backtalk your elders or push your luck kid, you're still tired from your fight earlier." Terra rolled his eyes and prepared to leap out and engage a Sand Jonin.

"Let's see you keep up old man." Jiraiya grinned at the comment, disregarding the jibe at his age.

"I already took out three snakes." Terra shook his head.

"It still only counts as one."

{[\|/]}

Tenten ducked under a flying kick from a Sound ninja, who received a open-palmed strike to the face. The ninja hit the ground, only to be almost immediately struck in the throat with a senbon.

"Six." Haku said quietly, then spun, raising his foot to kick an approaching Sand ninja in the stomach and following up with a blistering series of blows, alternating between his fists and feet.

"Seven." He said once the other ninja was down, before chasing after another.

"Why is he counting?" Neji asked. Tenten shrugged, then recalled something Terra had said at one point.

{[\|/]}

"_Haku and I have contests when we're fighting large groups of enemies. We use it to keep track of how many we disable or kill in a battle, and to keep ourselves sane." The black haired teen grinned, "Plus, whoever takes down the fewest has to do all the chores for a week."_

{[\|/]}

"Terra said something about a contest." Tenten summarized, smiling to herself when Neji shook his head. That sort of thing was as alien to Neji as it was welcome to Lee. She followed after Haku, who was leaving motionless bodies in his wake as he sprinted through the streets of Konoha. It was amazing that he'd learned about so many back alleys in such a short amount of time. Of course, she was ignorant of Haku's photographic memory. It had only taken one thorough stroll through town for the ice-user to remember all the back alleys he'd seen.

{[\|/]}

Terra dashed down an alley, only to skid to a halt and look around. The end of the alley was quite clear to his Sharingan, and it was a dead end. There were no more, conscious, fighters out in the street behind him either. However, the sounds of fighting could still faintly be heard. Not too long ago, two absolutely huge powers had sprung up on the outskirts of Konoha. From the movement of the chakra signatures though, they were duking it out with each other.

"Guess it's time to take to the roofs." Terra murmured, coiling his legs to leap. He started to jump, only for a crippling pain to wash over him from the curse mark on his neck. Terra let out a startled, choked groan, falling bodily forward and skidding just a bit from the momentum he'd built from the few inches of air he'd gained. The pain increased, making the teen whimper and curl in further. Some distant part of his brain was telling him that it didn't hurt that bad and he needed to get up, but Terra's body wasn't responding. A cold hand gripped his right hand, the one covering the mark on his neck, and a numbing sensation abruptly washed over Terra's body. He went limp, unintentionally, and his hand was dropped. A pair of feet came into view, and the teen could just look up into the shadowed face of his assailant.

"So, you're the hidden Sharingan user that Lord Orochimaru found." Terra tried to force his mouth open, but the muscles weren't responding, "Don't bother. I've used a paralysis jutsu on you. It won't last for long, so I have to make this quick. Got to make sure they're the real thing…" The silver haired aggressor stooped, his hands glowing green, and Terra's vision blacked out.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Haku dropped down onto the balcony outside of the apartment he and Terra had procured all that time ago before the exam. Using his key, he unlocked the sliding door and let himself in. After re-securing the door, he turned and about had a heart attack when he saw Terra laying on the floor in the living room area. The older teen was facedown and seeming to be asleep, however, when Haku came over, Terra didn't stir. Reaching out with his senses, the ice-user could feel something constricting around his friend's chakra, as well as his very body. With a few hand seals, Haku sent a burst of healing chakra into Terra's system, jumpstarting its defenses and making the older teen jump and take in a huge breath of air.

"Holy shit I thought you were never going to figure it out!" Terra exclaimed, sitting up and gripping his chest as he panted, "Fucking asshole Sound ninja!" Haku raised an eyebrow as the older teen continued to swear, coming up with a few new combinations that made him laugh, "_And_ he stole my chakrams!"

{[\|/]}

After Terra calmed down, Haku finally got the story of the encounter, what the fire-user could remember that is. After getting Terra to sit down, the ice-user went over him with his healing Ninjutsu, just to be sure there wasn't any damage. The scan came back with the same results as always for Terra; unusually high body temperature, overly high energy rate per cell, and overly high cell division rate. There weren't any unusual toxins in the Sharingan user's bloodstream, and no healing internal injuries.

"Well, at least we don't have that to deal with." Haku said as he sat back. Terra nodded as he pulled on his uwagi, leaving it hanging open. Haku watched his friend as he leaned back on his hands, raising his face to the ceiling and sighing. The curse mark Terra had received in the Forest of Death was quite plain on his neck.

"I've got to get back into the vigorous training cycle from before we left the Land of Water." The older teen's words startled Haku out of his staring. Terra reached up, covering the mark partially with his hand as he closed his eyes.

"Why? We're stronger than most our age." Haku asked. Terra let a huff of silent laughter leave him.

"That never stopped us from training before. We used to go all out, just to see how strong we could be." The pyromancer turned his head slightly in Haku's direction, but didn't open his eyes, "Now, we've got more to protect. More than Zabuza, more than each other. We have friends, people who are counting on us." Terra's hand fell from his neck, going back to supporting his upper body, "That ass of a Sound ninja took me down without ever laying a finger on me. He's high up in that snake's organization, high enough to know a jutsu that suppresses those with these curse marks. It's past time that I paid that fucker back for what he did to me." Haku nodded, looking out the window.

"I agree. Orochimaru, he's the one that killed the third Hokage. We won't be the only ones after his blood. But we might be the fastest, with a little work." Terra stood, crossing his arms and grinning.

"Right! So, after the funeral?" Haku nodded again and joined his friend, standing up.

"Right, we'll get right back to training like we never left."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

The sounds of repair echoed around the village, people busy repairing the damage done by the fights with the invasion force. Jutsu were destructive at the best of times, but when aimed to destroy, that's when the potential went up exponentially. A masked Terra dashed over the rooftops, trying to gain on his quarry, not to much avail. He might be getting faster, but the other was too, and had been faster for most of their lives. The pyromancer leapt over a large gap, only to slam into a pane of cold.

"COLD!" Terra shouted as the ice fragmented around him. He couldn't grab onto anything, his forward momentum had been enough to make him bounce before the pane of ice shattered. The seventeen year old landed in a heap on the ground, groaning as something cracked that wasn't supposed to. Terra staggered to his feet, glaring at his right forearm, which hung in a odd position. However, in the next second, it snapped back into place.

"Well, that's unusual." Out of reflex, Terra activated his Sharingan as he turned, staring at the two chakra figures standing there.

"What's so unusual?" the pyromancer asked, glaring slightly. There were several seconds of silence, before the shorter of the two figures answered.

"Your healing rate." He said, dipping his head slightly, "I've never even seen a jinchūriki with that kind of healing power." Terra shook his head, dropping his guard slightly.

"Yeah, well, I've never found anyone alive like me…at least in that sense. Everyone keeps comparing me to this rouge ninja from Konoha as of late. I even got jumped by the ANBU Black-Ops during the Chunin exams. It's about the only reason I'm wearing my mask right now."

"Terra, who are you talking to?" Haku appeared, standing on the edge of the roof. He'd left his mask behind today, so his Konoha headband was quite obvious.

"These two." Terra replied, nonplussed as he gestured in the direction of the two figures he'd noticed.

"Are you overusing your Sharingan again?" neither of the teens heard the slight intake of breath from the shorter figure.

"No! I'll prove it to you." Terra bowed his head for a moment, then raised it again, "There, I deactivated my Sharingan and there's still-" Terra had turned to look at his conversation partners, only to see nothing but air.

"I told you, nothing there. Maybe we should get your eyes checked." Haku said, only half joking. The pyromancer shook his head, then leapt upwards, plowing into his friend.

"Tag! Your it." He crowed, then disappeared in a burst of chakra enhanced speed. Haku grumbled about elaborate ideas to keep him from getting too much headway before following after. After a moment, the Genjutsu that had been hastily thrown over the area shimmered and died, revealing two men in long black cloaks, patterned with red clouds. The shorter of the two was looking towards the rooftops, staring in the direction the two teenagers had gone. Most of his face and his companion's were covered in the hanging paper strands that hung from the edge of their straw hats.

"That was close, eh Itachi?" the taller of the two asked.

"That boy…he had the Sharingan." Itachi murmured, sounding as if he couldn't believe it, "Who is he?"

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Haku blinked awake, and after a moment realized that he was staring at the rolling credits of the movie he and Terra had sat down to watch. Glancing at the other end of the couch, the cryomancer could see Terra's prone form. The older teen was a fairly heavy sleeper, especially if one moved around like they normally would. It was when people tried to sneak up on him in his sleep that Terra would wake up as soon as they got within a certain radius. The pyromancer also had a tendency to sleep in awkward positions. Right now, his head was resting on the arm of the couch he was nearest to, while his left arm was thrown over the back and his left leg was extended towards the middle of the couch, foot hanging off the middle cushion. His right arm was pillowing his head, while his right leg extended towards the small television they'd procured for their apartment. The only reason they'd stopped training today was because they'd both ran low on chakra, and Haku had run out of energy. After they'd gotten back to the apartment, Terra had all but collapsed on the couch. When he was fighting and training, Terra absorbed chakra from the air around him. It was a bit of double edged sword though. On one side, the pyromancer would never have a shortage of chakra in any drawn-out fight, and along those lines, wouldn't ever have a shortage of energy. On the other side, it was a function that took a _lot_ of energy, and in turn, a lot of chakra to maintain. Even though he was replacing spent chakra as fast or faster than he was spending it, the energy used to complete the process was still spent, giving the impression of a long, _long_ drawn out fight. So as soon as the adrenaline faded, Terra was usually out of commission for several hours. After one particular brawl they'd been entangled in during their training under Zabuza, Terra had been out for five days straight, and could barely move for a week afterwards. Thankfully, he'd learned to 'turn the conversion on and off' about a year after they were taken in by Zabuza.

Haku stood and moved over to the door. It was time to do something he'd been meaning to do since they'd come to the Village Hidden in the Leaves. The fifteen year old slid his feet into his boots and grabbed one of the sets of keys hanging from the peg by the door. It was a little past seven in the evening, so it wasn't a leap of faith to think his target would have already gone to bed, despite his usual temperament. Haku closed the door and locked it behind him before dashing down the hall.

"I think…it's this way." Haku murmured, leaping over a balcony and landing on a nearby rooftop. It took another twenty minutes to reach his destination, but finally the cryomancer landed on an open-air balcony that bordered a row of apartments. Double checking the number on the door, Haku knocked sharply. After a few moments, the door opened, and Haku blinked, seeing a dark haired woman with red eyes, so unlike the Sharingan. After his two-second lapse, Haku crouched, condensing the nearby water and air molecules into ice senbon.

"Who are you and why are you in Kakashi's apartment?" he demanded, despite faintly recognizing the woman from the Chunin exams. The woman blinked, seemingly surprised by his almost immediate reaction, then shook her head.

"I am Kurenai Yuhi, squad leader of Team Eight. I'm here because Kakashi is indisposed at the moment. Another Jonin and myself are tending to him." Haku relaxed slightly, but didn't dismiss his senbon.

"What happened?" the cryomancer asked.

"He, myself, and two others got into an altercation with two s-rank missing ninja who had infiltrated Konoha." Kurenai crossed her arms, "Why do you want to know?"

"I wanted to ask Kakashi something that I'm not sure who else to go to about. I really don't want to involve Sasuke either." Haku glanced over his shoulder, "And I'd prefer not to involve Terra until I've got all the answers."

"What did you want to ask?" Kurenai questioned.

"Well, I wanted to know if there's a way to look into the records and see about looking up Terra's lineage. He's dying to do it himself, but can't. Not to mention we've been throwing ourselves into training so much that we haven't gone a day without him passing out after we get back to the apartment. Also, I wanted to know some things about the Sharingan. Side effects, detrimental effects, what to look for in early signs and if overuse can cause hallucination. I know Sasuke won't be as big a help, seeing as he recently activated his own Sharingan, while Terra's are nearly mastered." Haku explained. Kurenai frowned.

"What's this about hallucination?" the ice-user sighed, finally dismissing his senbon to rub at his temples.

"We were working on speed and agility training about a week ago. We usually use tag as a catalyst for this, where jutsu and buildings become obstacles. In any case, we were running through town, and I realized I had outstripped Terra. Upon doubling back, I find him talking to thin air. Normally when we're out, Terra wears his mask, so I have to guess that he was using his Sharingan. I call him out on it, and he deactivates them, but the two 'people' he was talking to are 'gone'." Haku shrugged, "I'm not sure what to make of it, Terra's never had something like this happen before." Kurenai froze, staring at the teen, then glanced around before tilting her head further into the apartment.

"Come inside." Haku cautiously followed the young Jonin into the apartment and back into what was obviously the bedroom. There was another Jonin, another of the Konoha Jonin from the exam, and Kakashi was there as well, though he was unconscious and laying on the bed.

"Huh? What's up Kurenai?" the unnamed Jonin asked.

"Asuma," Kurenai helpfully supplied a name, "I think Terra, the Sharingan user that Kakashi brought back to the village, may have met Itachi when he was coming in." Haku blinked.

"Itachi? The one that everybody seems to think is Terra?" he asked. Kurenai nodded.

"He was considered a genius, one of the fastest rising ninja of the entire village, not to mention the Uchiha clan. However, that all fell away when he murdered the entire Uchiha clan, leaving only his younger brother, Sasuke, alive. The only reason we know for doing so, was what Itachi told Sasuke upon his departure, which was that is was to test his ability." Haku stared at the two Jonin. His mind was whirling, trying to put the pieces together, but…things weren't adding up.

''_To test my ability'? That doesn't sound like a sociopath, even one really off the deep end. It sounds like an excuse. Like…like he was trying to keep Sasuke from following. To keep people from following him in an attempt to 'save' him from a third party, imagined or otherwise.'_ Haku raised his head.

"Were Itachi and Sasuke close? Before the massacre?" Kurenai and Asuma blinked, then looked at each other.

"Uh, from what I've heard, yeah." Asuma finally responded, "They were five years apart, but still on fairly good terms. Sasuke was only seven when the massacre occurred." Haku crossed his arms, leaning back against the wall by the door.

'_That settles it. He knew there were two responses for Sasuke to run through. One being disbelief and grief, the other disbelief and following after him to get the truth. Instead of leaving it to chance, Itachi pushed the scales so Sasuke would stay in the village. There's more factors in this, but I think Itachi was just the tool to implement a plan.'_ Haku glanced at the two Jonin who were sharing confused glances with each other, _'And if _Jonin_ aren't told about this, coupled with the fact that nobody's mentioned anything about there being tracker ninja after him, leads me to believe someone in high places has knowledge of this. Best to keep myself out if it for now. But…still…there had to be a reason behind wiping out the Uchiha clan…I don't think the Land of Fire has the same prejudice against those with Kekkei Genkai as the citizens of the Land of Water do, but it makes the most sense.'_

"What is…_was_…the main asset of the Uchiha clan?" the ice-user asked. The two Jonin stared at Haku in disbelief.

"You don't know?" Kurenai asked.

"No, I'm just testing your knowledge. Of course I don't!" Haku frowned heavily, erasing the deadpan expression he'd first leveled at the Jonin, "I come from the Land of Water, and wasn't exactly at liberty to learn about these kinds of things. Terra and I were fairly indisposed at the time of the massacre, and afterwards, we were on the run with our sensei." The two older shinobi had the decency to look abashed.

"Well, for the longest time, the Uchiha were Konoha's police force, and they were very well known for their Kekkei Genkai, the Sharingan." Haku's eyes widened at Asuma's words.

"Wait, the Sharingan is the Kekkei Genkai linked to the Uchiha clan?"

"Yes. I would have thought you'd have known, seeing as you know what it's called. Your sensei never told you?" Kurenai asked. Haku shook his head.

"He said he would explain to Terra after our fight on the bridge in the Land of Waves…but, that fight didn't end in our favor." Asuma glanced a Kurenai, who shrugged. Nether had been given details on the circumstances leading up to Haku and Terra joining the Village Hidden in the Leaves.

"You met Kakashi and his team after that, right?" Asuma asked. Haku stiffened, realizing that the two Jonin didn't know.

"Ah, not…exactly." The ice-user glanced at Kakashi, then straightened and turned towards the doorway, "Seeing how I can't get my answers from Kakashi, I'll be going. Thank you for the information. You've given me a lot to think about." With the abrupt change in conversation, Haku left, and neither adult could ask anything as he disappeared.

"If Itachi knows about Terra's Sharingan, he might come after the boy." Kurenai murmured. Asuma nodded, pulling out a cigarette.

"We'll have to keep an eye on those two," the Sarutobi lit the cigarette, pocketing his lighter afterwards, "especially now."

{[\|/]}

Terra's eyes slid open as the door closed, and he glanced over at the door, seeing one of the keys missing. The pyromancer sighed, shifting and stretching out both legs on the now empty couch. Grabbing the remote, he turned off the television. He dropped one arm down to rest behind his head, brining the other forearm to rest over his eyes. Terra smiled as he remembered the conversation he'd had with Tenten the day after the invasion, which was a day before the funeral for all those that died in the ensuing fights, including the Hokage.

{[\|/]}

Terra raised his left hand in greeting as he approached the training ground that Tenten had asked they meet at, passed through Haku of course because Terra had been immobile until late in the evening on the day of the invasion. The girl in question was leaning against one of the trees on the edge of the clearing. The both of them were wearing casual clothes; a blue, loose t-shirt and dark red pants for Tenten, dark grey hakama and his sleeveless gi, tied shut, for Terra.

"Hiya, sorry I couldn't come yesterday." Terra called as he got within about ten feet. Tenten shook her head, pushing away from the tree and turning to face him fully.

"No problem. I figured that everything might take a bit to settle down." She said. Terra grinned, and Tenten smiled, the older teen's jovial mood contagious.

"So, you had something you wanted to ask me?" the fire-user prodded. Tenten nodded.

"Yes," she took a moment to look at Terra with a calculating expression, then, "Haku told me you never learned how to read." Terra paused, grin fading slightly. He looked down and away, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Ah, so…you probably wanted to ask why I never said anything? It's, pretty lame…not knowing one of the basic skills of humanity." The pyromancer pasted on a fake grin, almost Naruto worthy, "I understand if you don't want to hang out anymore." He turned, only for Tenten to catch hold of his elbow.

"Silly, I wasn't going to ask that at all." She said with a gentle smile when he looked over his shoulder, "I was going to ask if you wanted me to teach you." Terra's eyes widened, and his mouth opened slightly in shock. He turned back to Tenten, who released his arm and crossed her own.

"So? What do ya say?" she asked. Terra blinked, then a bright grin spread across his face.

"When do we start?" the fire-user replied.

{[\|/]}

They had spent the rest of that afternoon, as well as times in the following two weeks when Haku was out doing errands and Terra was confined to his bed due to exhaustion, in tutoring sessions. Terra could now read, recognize, and write his own name, as well as Haku's and Tenten's. He could remember almost all of the alphabet, which was saying something after Tenten realized that the pyromancer didn't have the best memory retaining skills in the world, ironic considering his Kekkei Genkai. It didn't help that Terra's comprehension was cut in roughly half when he was on bed rest, due to being so exhausted. In addition, Tenten was having a bit of difficulty wrapping her brain around teaching such a rudimentary skill to someone. She'd gone through a week of lessons before realizing that she needed to teach the alphabet before anything else.

"I didn't think it would be such a massive undertaking. I'm just glad I've already learned how to swim." Terra murmured, face reddening, "That was embarrassing enough as it was." Traveling with two natives to the Land of Water, where one learns to swim about the same time as they learn to walk, had made it rather awkward when that particular issue had come up.

* * *

So, lots of things happening in this chapter. Lots of fighting, and lots of people asking questions. I hope it doesn't seem like I'm resolving Terra's reading issue too quickly, it's been seventeen years and six months for him.

Kudos to anyone who can name the origin of Terra's quote to Jiraiya.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow…you guys are awesome! 330 views?! This is amazing! Love it! The only sad part is that I've only had four reviews. Slightly depressing. Aside from that, I'm glad you guys like it so much.

So, this is the first chapter of the Return of the Slavers Arc. Hope you all enjoy!

I do not own Naruto, only Terra...

* * *

Chapter V: Changes, Chances, and Clandestine

* * *

A knock sounded from the door, startling Terra into a sitting position. The pyromancer blinked, then silently swung his legs over the edge and made his way to the door. Haku was out on a grocery run, and was due back any moment, however, he usually would come in the balcony door, which left the person at the door being a stranger. Terra himself had been told not to leave the apartment after he'd used so much energy that he'd collapsed on the training field last night. Haku refused to train with the fire-user until he was sure that Terra was back up to par. The knock came again, just as Terra put his eye to the peephole. One of the Chunin that had helped watch the first part of the Chunin exams was standing there. Confused, Terra unlocked and opened the door.

"Yes? Can I help you?" the Chunin extended his hand, a folded sheet of paper held in it. The fire-user could pick out his name and Haku's, but not much else.

"This is from the Lady Hokage. I was told to deliver it to you and your teammate." Terra smirked slightly.

"Right, I'll pass it on to Haku." The Chunin nodded and disappeared. As Terra closed the door, he heard the balcony one open.

"I'm back." Haku said, just loudly enough to carry to Terra. The pyromancer grinned.

"Right on time." He commented as Haku dropped the bags of groceries on the kitchen table, "Someone just delivered a message from the Hokage to the both of us." Haku paused in putting a bundle of carrots in the fridge.

"The Hokage? Do you think it could be about our past as rouge ninja? The third Hokage didn't really touch on that." Terra shrugged, handing the letter to Haku and moving past him to finish with the groceries. Haku opened the letter, read it, then stared, and stared, and stared some more.

"Terra…grab your boots." The fire-user looked up from the fridge, "We've got to go to the Hokage's tower." Terra blinked.

"Why?"

"Just do it!" Haku raced out of the room, heading back towards his bedroom to grab his and Terra's masks. Terra shrugged, meandering over to the door to pick up his shoes.

{[\|/]}

Terra kept glancing at Haku on the way up the tower to the meeting room apparently specified in the letter. This was basically Terra's equivalent of pestering the younger teen for an answer. However, with just under nine years of knowing him, Haku had gotten very used to and adept at ignoring these nonverbal questions. Both had moved their masks to clips they wore on their belts to keep them close, as there were only ninja in the tower as of yet, and they knew about Terra, and were least likely to attack on sight. Terra rolled his eyes and sighed, crossing his arms as they moved into the room. The Sharingan user paused ever so slightly upon seeing Shikamaru standing there before the desk, but moved with Haku to stand beside the shadow user, being careful to put Haku between them. Six years was a long recuperation period, but some wounds took much longer to heal. Terra's aversion to touch was one of them, and the only person who was allowed to initiate touch with him was Haku, and ever so slowly, Tenten was joining that tiny group. As they stood at minor attention, Tsunade, the new Hokage, began to speak.

"To be honest with you, I don't know what to do. With the final exam being suspended, it was the opinion of many that none of the students should pass this time around, and that includes the three of you." Terra shot a glance at Haku, who nodded.

'_So, this is about the Chunin exams.'_ Terra thought, returning his attention to the Hokage.

"However, I hear that the third Hokage had nothing but the highest praise for you three. The two of you who were entered as a two man team, you especially had impressed him, and Kakashi as well. It seems the third meant to recommend all of you for Chunin. In fact, all those that observed your fights, and your proctors felt the same. So in this case, my opinion doesn't really matter." Terra's wide eyes met with Haku's own, slightly less surprised ones, "From this day forth, I hope all of you will strive to achieve a level of excellence worthy of the headbands you wear. Congratulations, as of this moment, you stand as Chunin." Anko, the woman who had proctored the second exam, came forward and handed them each one of the green flack vests that were worn by Chunin and above. Shikamaru put his on fairly quickly, Haku following at a slower rate, but Terra just held his and stared.

"Terra?" Haku asked, realizing that his friend hadn't moved. Terra glanced at Haku from under his bangs, and Haku could see that the pyromancer's eyes were watering.

"I…I never thought…" Terra trailed off, scrubbing furiously at his eyes, which were releasing steam as the tears evaporated from his much higher than average body heat. Haku glanced at the other ninja in the room, but apart from Shikamaru's bored expression, they all wore looks of understanding. Some ninja never got past Genin status, and for someone like Terra, who'd really clawed his way up from the very bottom, this was a big step upwards. Haku gripped the fire-user's shoulder and smiled when black eyes met his brown ones.

"I know, neither of us did. Now, put on your vest. You've definitely earned it." Terra grinned, eyes still watering slightly, and did so, the extra heat afforded by the thick jacket not bothering him in the least.

{[\|/]}

It was a surprise to the two teens when Shikamaru invited them to lunch with his team, who were going to meet up with him and celebrate. Terra shrugged at Haku's questioning glance, leaving the decision up to the ice-user. Haku decided to go, so Terra tagged along. After some good natured jibes at Shikamaru from his teammates, the others began eating. It was about ten minutes into the meal that Ino noticed Terra's lack of eating. He hadn't even touched his water.

"Terra, right?" she asked, calling attention to the dark haired teen. He looked up, having been tracing random patterns on the table with a fingertip.

"Yeah." He replied wearily.

"Why aren't you eating?" such a simple question, but the answers were difficult and painful. Haku simply watched his friend, hesitant to step up and speak.

"I can't." Terra finally said quietly. This only caused more confusion between the members of Team Ten.

"What do you mean?" Shikamaru cut in, staring at the older Chunin. Terra sighed and seemed to wilt slightly.

"It…it's not really a secret, but the only people who know are the members of Team Seven, Haku, our old sensei, Tenten, and now you. It's just something we really don't like sharing." He murmured. Surreptitiously, Asuma, the Jonin sensei for Team Ten, put up a privacy jutsu. Terra nodded at the older man in thanks.

"We had to explain this when questions arose about Terra's healing rate after the fight on the bridge in the Land of Waves." Haku said quietly.

"You met Kakashi's team after that fight." Asuma commented. Haku looked at him, then shifted his gaze uncomfortably.

"Not…exactly."

"When did you meet them then?" Ino asked. Haku cast his mind about, trying to find a way to say it diplomatically.

"Who do you think we were fighting?" Terra said in his usual blunt manner. Haku dropped his head to the table, suppressing a groan.

"WHAT?" Ino shouted, leaping to her feet.

"We were hired!" Terra shot back, continuing when Ino paused in surprise, "That's what we were, ninja for hire. You made the comment about our masks having the sign for the Village Hidden in the Mist, we only wore that sign because our sensei was a missing ninja from there. Neither Haku or myself has ever been a member of any of the hidden villages until we came to Konoha." Ino dropped into her seat, staring at Terra and Haku, but now that Terra had started, he wasn't going to stop, "Haku was seven when his father sold him into slavery, after killing his mother right in front of him. I _grew up_ in the catacombs that made up the slavery ring. I never knew my parents, my family, the only friend I had before Haku was sent to the lower levels when I got too friendly with him. The only reason I know I wasn't abandoned or born in the catacombs was because the guards liked to brag a lot, saying how they slipped past the '_high and mighty ninja_' they stole me from. We escaped two years after Haku was added to the cell I was in, and Zabuza found us, trained us. We were with him for six years. He trained us to the level you saw us display in the Chunin exams." Haku put a hand on Terra's shoulder, making the slightly panting teen calm down and sit, his skin was lit from within like someone had raked glowing coals under a cheesecloth, "We got a contract from a man named Gatō to kill the bridge builder that Team Seven was guarding. When the demon brothers, two other missing ninja who worked under Zabuza, failed, Zabuza himself went out. Of course, we went with him, in the off chance that he was defeated. As it turned out, Haku had to fake Zabuza's death. I used a Genjutsu to give the impression that we were performing like normal tracker ninja, but apparently Kakashi saw right through it."

"Zabuza…died on the bridge." Haku finally interjected, and Terra slumped slightly, spent, "Terra nearly died as well."

"Tell 'em the truth Haku, don't beat around the bush. You and I both know I was closer than 'nearly'." Terra said lowly.

"Are you trying to say you died?" Shikamaru asked sharply. Terra let out a huff of wry amusement.

"Well, my heart stopped." He said, not meeting anyone's eyes.

"Terra was used as an experiment for roughly three months before we escaped." Haku finally got to the point of the matter, "Many things still haut the both of us about our time. There isn't anything to do about it but wait for the memories to fade. One of the things that was affected was Terra's eating habits, but don't worry about him. We've been dealing with this for going on seven years now, its under control."

{[\|/]}

Terra and Haku found themselves back in the Hokage's meeting room early the next morning. Terra was asleep on his feet, but Haku, the early riser, was awake and alert. Both were in full gear and were of course wearing their new flack jackets.

"Do you understand?" Tsunade asked. Haku nodded solemnly, elbowing Terra in the side. The fire-user jumped, eyes snapping open as he surveyed the room quickly, before nodding, having replayed what his ears had heard in his head, even though he'd been asleep.

"Then go, you know what to do." Tsunade finished.

"Yes ma'am!" the two teens said sharply, then disappeared. Haku melting into a puddle on the ground that quickly evaporated, Terra seeming to burn to ash in a blast of fire.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

He slowly rose into consciousness, trying to remember where he was and what he was doing. Did he have a mission to go on? His brother had asked for training again, but he wasn't sure he could make time for it, even if he wasn't trying to shelter the boy from the hard truths of the world. His dark eyes shot open, and immediately took note of the darkened room. He wasn't still in Konoha, and his younger brother was no longer a sheltered child. Itachi Uchiha glanced around, picking out several tables with multiple dangerous and painful looking instruments. While looking around, he realized that he wasn't in the same area as he'd been when he had lost awareness. Trying to sneak out proved fruitless, as one movement of his leg brought to his attention the fact that he was chained to the wall he was resting against, chakra cuffs sapping his energy. Itachi sighed, shifting slightly so that his weight was no longer resting entirely on his wrists. He was chained upright against the wall, and he'd fallen forward sometime since then and only the manacles around his wrists kept him from hitting the floor. Now however, Itachi's arms ached from the extended time being pulled back, and were tingling with the pins-and-needles feeling of awakening limbs.

It took a lot of focus not to jump out of his skin when the door burst open, but the man that entered didn't seem to pay him any mind, muttering to himself and flipping through a messy notebook in a hurried manner. The man wore a dirty lab coat, had close cropped dark hair, and wire-rimmed glasses. Itachi had opened his mouth to speak when some of the mutterings made it to his side of the room.

"-subject not nearly as…the first…already eyes…deteriorating. With…luck, I can fix…got…start soon…silly disease…short time…only…tell…original sample…doesn't…advanced…healing slowly…" Itachi stilled. The sentences were disjointed and incomplete, but he got the impression the man was talking about himself and one other. Almost on reflex, his mind brought up the image of the masked boy he'd met in Konoha, who'd claimed that everyone was mistaking him for Itachi. Terra. Itachi had taken a few minutes before leaving Konoha to form a shadow clone and send it to the Uchiha archives, which were surprisingly undisturbed for the majority of the files. The clone had searched for three days before finding the file on the teen, though the file had been in the deceased section. Apparently, the two-year-old Terra had gone missing one day, and after two months, the search parties had given up. If the boy had been _here_ though, that would explain not being found in that time period, though where _here_ was, was a whole other can of worms. The more interesting tidbit was that he was fairly closely related to, and was the same age as, Itachi. Terra was actually only two months younger.

"I guess I'll work with what I have." The sigh from the man jerked Itachi's attention back to the current time and place, realizing that the glasses-wearing man was approaching, a syringe filled with noxious looking fluid, "Oh, you're awake." The dark haired teen looked up at the man, staring with an expressionless gaze, "This would have been so much easier if you'd stayed unconscious." The syringe was injected, and Itachi gritted his teeth as pain exploded from the point of entry, his very blood feeling like it was on fire.

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

Sasuke tuned out Naruto's whining, focusing instead on the road ahead of them. Kakashi was walking on autopilot, responding to Naruto's pestering with noncommittal grunts as he read. Sakura was, of course, switching between yelling at Naruto and making goo-goo eyes at the back of Sasuke's head. They were making their way back from the Village Hidden in the Mist, having been sent on a mission to deliver a scroll, reporting to the Mizukage something that one of the scouting teams of Konoha had reported after a mission at the man's request. It didn't seem like it was anything big, at least it hadn't until the ambassador that had greeted them and taken the scroll had gotten a surprised and worried look on his face.

A stream of senbon suddenly passed sparse inches in front of Sasuke, and he leapt back, pulling out a pair of kunai and looking around warily. The others of Team Seven were tensed for battle as well, Kakashi had even put up his book.

"Who's there?" the silver haired Jonin called.

"Well, that's certainly not what we were expecting, is it boys?" a voice said loudly from the bushes, "We went fishing for minnows and caught a wale in our net. It's the Copycat ninja of Konoha!" Abruptly, green smoke began to pour from all around them, and Sasuke felt like was loosing control of his body. Sakura had already collapsed, though her eyes were wide open, and she was shaking faintly from fright. Sasuke followed soon after, unable to get his body to respond. Naruto was sending shadow clones out into the forest, but was fighting more and more to get his hands up into the correct hand seals and wasn't able to summon as many as he normally did. Kakashi was also clearly affected, sparring with a tall man who wore a gas mask that covered his whole face, but was moving much more sluggishly than normal. Sasuke watched, frustrated beyond belief that he was fully conscious but unable to do anything. Eventually, the two remaining members of the squad fell to the effects of the smoke as well.

{[\|/]}

Kakashi grunted as he hit the wall, moments later followed by Sakura and Naruto. He looked around, seeing Sasuke being thrown against the wall further down and, of all people, Haku and Terra. Terra was upright, chained in a standing position against the wall while Haku was sitting, also chained to the wall. Both were wearing chakra cuffs similar to the ones they'd put on Sasuke, Naruto, Sakura, and Kakashi. The two teens were also wearing flack vests, signifying that they'd been promoted to Chunin. Kakashi smiled briefly internally at that, knowing they were more than qualifying of the station. However, like the members of Team Seven, the two teens had been relieved of all their weapons and weapons' holsters. As the three Genin and one Jonin were chained up, still fighting the effects of whatever gas they'd been exposed to, Naruto began to backtalk to their captors. One backhanded him across the face.

"Keep at it kid, we'll send you to see the doctor." The man growled, though it curiously sounded as though he was talking about someone who'd be unpleasant to see, rather than dishing out cures for physical ailments. Haku was shaking his head at Terra, who had a brooding look on his face. Abruptly, the older teen looked up, a hard light in his eyes.

"Just keep at it, Naruto! These guys are all talk!" Haku tried to kick his friend, but to no avail.

"Terra!" Terra ignored Haku's hissing, tossing his head arrogantly. Sometimes, it seemed as if Terra wasn't an Uchiha, not that anyone had actually pointed that fact out to him. This was not one of those times. He was acting every bit as arrogantly as Sasuke himself usually did. Thankfully, with the older boy around, Sasuke was lightening up slightly. Terra usually acted like an eight year old stuck in an eighteen year old body around the members of Team Seven, so it was hard not to get involved in his, sometimes, childish pursuits.

"They've been threatening me since we got here and still nothing. They're all bark and no bite." The tallest of the three grunts stomped over, taking out a kunai and ramming it into Terra's right thigh. Terra didn't even blink. The man growled, twisting the kunai.

"If that's the best you've got…" Terra grinned wickedly, "this is gonna be a piece of cake." The man yanked out the kunai, motioning to the other two men.

"We'll see how long he lasts with that mouth against the doc." He growled. The two lesser guards unhooked Terra from the wall. They let the teen fall to the floor, and then dragged him without letting him get up. As the door closed, Haku gently smacked his head against the wall.

"Terra!" he groaned.

"What's the matter?" Naruto asked.

"He always does this. Gets himself in deep and then ends up without help because of it." Haku's voice was somewhere between sulky child, whining, and angry.

"He's got a reason behind it." Kakashi said quietly.

"He's been antagonizing the guards since he's been here. He's been keeping the attention on himself and off me." Haku replied petulantly

"What are you doing here anyways?" Kakashi asked.

"Being chained to a wall, how about you?" Haku deadpanned. The younger members of Team Seven snickered, except Sasuke, who smirked.

"You walked into that one sensei." Sakura managed around quiet, nervous laughter. Kakashi rolled his eye.

"I meant, what are you doing in this area!" he shot at the ice-user. It was Haku's turn to roll his eyes.

"Mission. We were on our way back when they caught us." he finally grumbled, embarrassed that he had to admit something like that.

"Hopefully we'll be able to get out of here soon." Sakura murmured, looking longingly at the door.

{[\|/]}

Terra glared slightly at the men that were dragging him, moving too quickly for him to get his feet back under him. Finally, they came to a door, which was roughly opened by the burlier of the three guards. The dimly lit room beyond smelled of blood, sweat, and other bodily fluids, making Terra grimace, remembering his time in the catacombs.

"Got another one for ya' Doc!" the slimmer of the guards crowed as he and his partner dragged Terra up and began attaching the chains around his wrists to some hanging from the ceiling.

"Hm, it would seem so." the oily voice made Terra freeze, eyes wide.

'_I know that voice!'_

Sure enough, the man that came over to inspect Terra was none other than the sick maniac that had experimented on him before. The man looked over his glasses, eyebrow raised in shock.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my old experiment come home." Terra lashed out with his foot, managing to connect with the sicko's chest.

"I'm not a fucking experiment, asshole! I'm a ninja of the Village Hidden of the Leaves!" he shouted. One of the guards reached forward and after a minute of trying to catch him, snapped Terra's foreleg, making the teen groan slightly, but not much. When the guard let go, the leg straightened and the bones snapped back together with a loud crunch.

"I see that your healing factor hasn't diminished any." The scientist murmured, massaging where Terra had kicked him, "And of course you're from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, where do you think the Uchiha's are from?" Terra froze, staring at the man, not noticing the guards moving until his jacket was being pulled off, then began fighting and squirming as much as possible, but to little avail as he was tethered in a near net of chains that hung in the middle of the room, keeping his arms spread wide and legs locked together. It effectively hampered the eighteen year old's movements.

"I specifically ordered for an Uchiha to be stolen all those years ago, I didn't expect the bumbling buffoons to find one of the Phoenix-blessed ones though. Your development has been the foci of many of my experiments." He picked up a scalpel; moving closer and making Terra flinch backwards, or try to. It only made him swing slightly. The scientist drew a black marker from inside his lab coat, muttering to himself as he began making marks on the teen's skin, presumably where he planned to cut. Terra tensed further, eyes blanking out as his mind locked itself down, too caught in memories to realize that it needed to be at the front and foremost. The teen began to minorly hyperventilate, to which the scientist nodded at one of the guards who cracked Terra in the head with his nightstick, knocking him out.

"This was my first experiment from the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I'm relieved it came back." The scientist made a deep slice in Terra's side, and blood welled from the wound for a few moments, then it resealed itself, "Now that it's back, I don't have to start completely from scratch on my newest sample." The last occupant of the room narrowed his eyes, but said nothing. Instead, he stared at Terra, recognizing him and setting his mind into overdrive.

'_I have to get him out of here. _Before_ Madara finds out about him.'_ Itachi Uchiha thought, wincing as another wave of pain crested.

{[\|/]}

Haku stilled, making everyone look at him, as he glanced at the door, then quickly down at his legs. The door burst open and four guards entered. The first pair was dragging a dark haired young man who was deposited against the opposite wall, about two feet from the corner, and quickly chained up. The second set hauled an unconscious Terra back to his place at the wall, and yanking him upright.

"Serves you right, little bastard. You're lucky your little friend didn't come back with you." One guard said, and Haku stiffened but didn't look up, "He'd be in the same boat. We don't take kindly to runners." He roughly grabbed Terra's limp neck, straightening it so he could glare at the teen's unconscious, blood-stained face, "Wanna tell me how you escaped last time? I might take it easy on you." The guard sneered, tightening his grip when Terra made no move to say anything, "You'll get what's coming to you…one way or another." The guard spit on Terra's bare shoulder, then left with his fellows, and the door slammed shut, bolts and locks easily heard being shot.

"_You!_" Sasuke's hissed accusation brought attention to the other new arrival, being none other than Itachi Uchiha. Weakly, the older Uchiha raised his head slightly, his face drawn and slightly bloody.

"Me." He replied softly, "What are you doing here…" Itachi winced, "little brother?" Sasuke was taken aback. Instead of the arrogant tone he was accustomed to from the last two encounters he'd had with his older brother, Itachi only sounded tired and in pain. He'd even shown that pain, which meant it had to be very, _very_ bad. Itachi's control was perfect, Sasuke couldn't remember ever seeing an emotion his brother hadn't wanted him to. Terra shifted, then whimpered quietly, unconsciously drawing attention to himself. The teen became the center of attention as he began to hyperventilate, eyes open and fists clenched. His lean arms strained against the chains holding him and he hardly seemed to see what was really in front of him.

"Hey…calm down!" Haku murmured, reaching as far as possible and just barely being able to brush his friend's bare ankle. Terra jerked, shudders beginning to wrack his body.

"I think…that might actually be…a result of what they…did to him." Eyes were drawn to Itachi, who was regarding Terra with a strange expression, and obviously still struggling with his own pain.

"What did they do to him?" Haku demanded, eyes and voice hard as the ice he controlled.

"He said something about…blood substitutes." Itachi's eyes drifted to Haku, "Poison was…mentioned often" Haku paled.

"No…" he shook his head, "that…that's impossible. It's the last thing that the _madman_ was trying to do before we escaped."

"So, you _were_ here before. That explains…the reactions." Itachi murmured, letting his head loll slightly to the side.

"B-before?" Haku stammered, "Reaction? And what the guard said…" he froze, "No! No, no, no, no, NO!" the cryomancer yanked desperately at the chains keeping him secured against the wall, "I can't do this again! No! We've gotta…gotta get out of here! Terra! Wake-up! Please." Haku fell to the side against one arm, leaning in the direction of his comatose friend. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke stared at the usually levelheaded teen. It shook them up to see their usually collected friend acting so different and scared.

"How did these slavers manage to get the drop on the infamous Itachi Uchiha?" Kakashi asked out of the blue, apparently trying to get attention off Terra and Haku, currently the weakest links of their group. Itachi looked at him flatly.

"They caught me…by surprise. I'd been…on the run from the…Akatsuki for some time…and I was exhausted. They…they discovered that…I'd been passing information…to Konoha…" He grimaced as a wave of pain crested, "The gas they use is…a kind of nerve gas,…and temporarily keeps you from…controlling your…own body."

"That's what they used on us too. And I don't think you'll have to worry about your former organization." Haku murmured absently, apparently adding to the conversation subconsciously as he looked back up at Terra, who's shaking was subsiding, "Terra?"

"Cold…why…why is it so…cold?" came a muttered reply. Haku's eyes widened and he surged to the side, yanking against his chains and managing to catch hold of Terra's ankle.

"Terra! Wake up!" he barked sharply. The older teen groaned, head lolling.

"Terra! Wake up now! You have to stay awake! I'm not losing you here! We're going to get out! But you've got to stay awake! Try and circulate your chakra away from the cuffs and warm your core." Terra groaned again, and Haku continued, voice portraying how desperate he was getting, "If you don't warm up you'll die!"

"Phoenixes rise…from the ashes…" Terra muttered, but seemed to be complying with Haku's demands as his chest was beginning to glow. Slowly, the light began to resemble the glow of barely lit embers.

"The Phoenix Guard." Itachi murmured, sounding awed.

"The what now?" Naruto asked, as usual, totally oblivious to the tension between Kakashi, Sasuke, and the rouge ninja.

"The Phoenix Guard. Those of the…Uchiha family that were said to have been…blessed by a Phoenix and charged with the protection of…the Ruling family of the Uchiha,…so to speak." Itachi said quietly, pausing every few words to keep his voice even and deprived of the pain that still flitted across his face, making Sasuke stare in surprise. He wasn't used to seeing his brother so talkative, much less the shock he was getting from not being talked down to.

"The Ruling family, wouldn't that have been Fugaku's line?" Kakashi asked. Itachi nodded.

"His mother…I think, was what…linked him to the Phoenix Guard. He's…_our_ second cousin." Sasuke gaped, looking back and forth between Terra and Itachi.

"That explains why he looks so much like you." Sakura murmured, "Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei thought he was you when we first met."

"That makes more sense now. Also explains the ANBU Black-Ops jumping him when we came into the tower during the Chunin Exams." Haku murmured, not taking his eyes off Terra, "So, _was_ it you Terra saw in the village that day?" For the members of Team Seven, this was something new, but Itachi nodded slowly.

"Yes, and…I stand by…what I said. His…healing rate _is_ very…unusual for one that's…not a jinchūriki." He said with a wry smile.

{[\|/]}

It was several hours later, or it could have been a whole day, before the guards came back. Terra had just woken up before the sounds of approaching steps had caught his attention. His head jerked hard to one side, and Haku tensed as well.

"Nobody make eye contact with them." The ice-user hissed. The others had barely enough time to nod in understanding before the door was thrown open. Six guards came in this time, each as burly and muscled as the next.

"Get a move on." The seventh and final guard standing in the hallway barked.

"Aw, don't tell me you guys are scared enough of us to have to recruit more guards." Terra taunted weakly. It earned him a vicious haymaker to the stomach.

"Don't be stupid." The attacking guard said as he straightened, "We have to have the extra hands for the third guy." This earned nonplussed looks until Kakashi was yanked to his feet with Terra and Itachi.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto exclaimed, only for Kakashi to smile, in his way, over his shoulder.

"Relax Naruto, I'll be fine." The silver haired Jonin said. The closest guard shoved Kakashi's shoulder, making him stumble slightly, nearly getting tangled in the chains that were still keeping him restrained.

"We'll see if you can keep that carefree façade after your 'appointment'." The guard sneered, then forced the Jonin into line behind Itachi and the drunkenly staggering Terra. The door slammed shut and they set off down the hall, the pace set by the guards too fast for Terra to keep up with until Kakashi and Itachi lent him each a shoulder. Terra took the opportunity to hiss hurried instructions in the two's ears.

"Whatever you do, don't try and talk him out of something. The man doesn't think of us as people, only lab rats, and it'll piss him off. Keep the noise responses down to as much of a minimum as you can, it only makes him break jaws, though in one case he threatened to cut my vocal chords. And whatever you do, don't try and interfere with anything he tries to do to me, he'll probably do it to you instead, though he's more likely to do it to us both." The door came into view, and the guards yanked the three away from each other, ending Terra's hasty whispering. Terra was surprised as he was actually dragged to the wall near Itachi, and Kakashi was the one chained up in the middle of the room. The teen missed the hastily stifled expression of relief that ghosted over Itachi's face, but Kakashi didn't, ignoring the guards that had literally shredded his flack jacket to get it off of him.

'_Interesting…I guess the infamous Itachi Uchiha isn't as cold-hearted as most believe.'_ Kakashi thought as the man he presumed to be the 'doctor' that was apparently in charge shuffled forwards. The man didn't speak, but immediately reached up and yanked Kakashi's forehead protector off. Kakashi frowned internally at the rudeness, but kept Terra's fearful instructions in mind and kept his face blank. From the way Itachi had nodded slightly when the scarred teen had been speaking, the instructions were valid. Which brought to light exactly _how_ different Itachi was behaving in contrast to how he had been upon his visit to Konoha last month.

"Interesting," Kakashi jerked slightly in surprise when the oily man spoke aloud, "the transplant wasn't under the best of circumstances, but the eye has completely melded with the original system. I wonder…" the man sent a glance at Terra, who tensed and let out a inaudible whimper of fear. Kakashi only knew he did so because it was right on the edge of his hearing, keen as it was.

"Bah," the doctor waved the idea away like a swarm of mosquitoes, "why would I even consider. If anything, the less intact eyes would be better to use, less likely to impede my other experiments." Now it was Itachi's turn to tense, and Kakashi took the chance to glare at the back of the presumed doctor's head.

''_Less intact'? Is Itachi going blind?'_ the thought skittered across Kakashi's mind before the bespectacled man turned around with a scalpel, _'Well, there go the examinations.'_ This thought had barely even formed before the scalpel drove into shoulder, and Kakashi was biting his tongue to keep from yelling in pain.

{[\|/]}

Haku, and the three Konoha Genin looked up as the door opened. Kakashi was dragged in, supported by a guard on either side. They chained him up in his spot and left, slamming the door behind them. Kakashi didn't move, simply slumping where he'd been dropped on the ground. His mask was slightly torn, though mostly in place, but his flack jacket and forehead protector were both missing. Kakashi's silver hair was falling heavily to one side, loosing its fight with gravity.

"K-Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto managed to get out. Slowly, Kakashi raised his head, his viewable face bloody.

"I'm alright." He said, wincing slightly, "Nothing too serious. He just wanted to examine my Sharingan…I think."

"Let me guess," Haku commented, voice trying to sound light, but shaking a bit too much for it to be believed, "you lost track after about the seventh or eighth time he stabbed you?" Kakashi blinked, but nodded.

"S-stabbed?" Sakura squeaked.

"The so-called 'doctor' is a bit blade happy." Haku replied absently, "He also seems a bit obsessed with the Sharingan." Sakura and Naruto glanced at Sasuke, who's eyes had narrowed and flicked to the door, before going back to his stoic mask. To his teammates, that was the equivalent of a nervous twitch and shuddering in fear.

Itachi and Terra were returned several hours later, both drained and bloody. Itachi and Terra were both barely lucid, hallucinating under the effects of very strong, very heavy drugs. Terra's right-hand fingers were broken, twisted, and blackened. For several minutes, the cell was filled with the sound of bones grinding and popping as they righted themselves and the cartilage around them. However, the black was slower to fade. Itachi crested from the drug induced stupor first, and explained that the blackened part of Terra's fingers were due to them being held between two thick blocks of dry ice for the majority of their time there. Kakashi had already been half unconscious when the ice treatment had started, so he hadn't been aware of it. The only thing Terra said for the rest of the day was a repeated was a single phrase at random intervals. Haku's expression had been puzzled the first time he'd heard it, but then, his eyes had widened in shock before beginning to water slightly. Sakura had immediately noticed and asked. After much pestering, Haku finally spoke the four words that Terra was murmuring.

"Where is my family?"

It took a short explanation for the meaning to reach the others. Terra's first cellmate had been an older man from the Land of Wind, so of course he had probably recognized the Uchiha. He'd set aside any prejudice and had instead cared for and taught the toddler Terra, mainly how to talk, walk, and a bit about the world outside the catacombs. Terra's first real conversation had been about family, and had ended with the question Terra was now repeating, as the man had never answered and had been moved out of Terra's cell shortly afterwards. Once Haku had explained, the room was quiet until they had all drifted off to sleep, except for Terra's quiet murmurings, which got increasingly more desperate and slightly tearful, but never louder.

{[\|/]}

Haku was again the warning sign, stiffening in the middle of a hushed conversation on possible means of escape. The others quickly hushed, making sure to keep hostility out of their expressions. Naruto had gotten a heavy kick to the side the day before when he'd been seen glaring at one of the guards as they had been leaving the room. The door opened and again six guards entered. Kakashi glanced at the Genin, preparing to be dragged to his feet again as Itachi was and Terra was dropped from the wall. The fire-user was still out cold, though the drop seemed to have roused him slightly. Instead of Kakashi being hoisted up however, it was Sakura. She threw panicked looks at Kakashi and Haku. Kakashi opened his mouth, but Haku beat him to it.

"What's the big idea?" he called, throwing his voice slightly higher and into a slight but believable falsetto, "Taking the newbie konoichi and not me?" The guards paused, blinking stupidly as they looked at Haku. Admittedly, the change in clothes and hairstyle deterred greatly from Haku's former, quite female, appearance. The guards leered at Haku, who glanced meaningfully at Itachi. The Uchiha nodded ever so slightly and Haku breathed a silent sigh of relief. Itachi would take care of Sakura.

"Well, well, sorry we didn't notice you then." The lead guard replied. He stumped forward and yanked Haku to his feet, attaching the set of chains that they used for transporting them before unlocking the standard chains. In that moment that chakra cuffs were disengaged before the second set would engage, Haku cast a smokeless transformation. It didn't do much, but it did soften his appearance, and change him from male to female. He couldn't do anything drastic, but he added a few curves, very slight, but it would appear to anyone who dared to unclothe him that he was female. _Their_ mistake. As they were half dragged down the hallway, Terra actually was being dragged, Haku managed to edge closer to Sakura, who was visibly shaking in fear.

"Keep calm." Haku murmured, voice even and calm, "He's not going to treat you like Terra and Itachi. If anything, from the way the guards reacted, you'll be shoved in a room with Itachi in an attempt to see how the Uchiha react to female influence. Itachi already promised that he'll take care of you, and he won't abuse the position you'll be put in unless drugged." Sakura calmed slightly, but was still visibly nervous, "You're a konoichi of Konoha, Sakura. Act like it." That did the trick. Sakura's nervousness vanished like mist on a summer's day.

As it turned out, Haku was right. Itachi and Sakura were shoved in a room together, as were Haku and Terra, and left for all of four hours before the psychotic man in charge decided it was fruitless and that nothing more would happen. Sakura was sent back to the cell with the others with Haku, and the experiments on Terra and Itachi continued.

{[\|/]}

Itachi grimaced as he was dropped unceremoniously on the floor, too weak to try and struggle as the guards leisurely attached the cuffs to his wrists and ankles. Terra was being given the same treatment, though they still tethered him up in the crucifixion stance in an attempt to injure him further. As the door closed, Itachi allowed his head to loll. After the first four days, all appearances of strength had crumbled away. Haku, and Terra when he was lucid, stressed that they get over such issues with each other, as it would only hinder any chances of escape. If one came, it would likely be an all or nothing chance, and they couldn't have one group trying to sabotage the other. Most of the hostilities had died by now, extinguished by the cold breath of realizing that they were all equal in the eyes of their captors. Itachi glanced up upon feeling a glare directed at him, seeing Sasuke leveling him with a glower. The eighteen year old mentally rolled his eyes.

'_Some day, little brother, I will tell you why our family had to die.'_ He thought, only for his mind to come to a shuddering halt, _'Wait, I no longer have ties keeping me in the Akatsuki. My use as a spy has ended. I can…tell him now.'_ A small smile tugged at the corners of Itachi's mouth, and he raised his head slightly to regard Sasuke. He contemplated for several minutes on the best way to breach the subject, only for one of the others to do it for him.

"If you were a Konoha spy for the Akatsuki, why did you kill off the rest of the Uchiha Clan?" Kakashi asked. Itachi blinked, surprised at the convenient bringing up of the subject on his mind.

"Because they were planning a coup d'état." He decided the blunt route was easiest. It would do no good to sugar coat it.

"Ha!" the quiet exclamation drew attention to Haku who was smiling slightly, "I was right! There was more to the issue than what was common knowledge." The ice-user's face reddened slightly when everyone gave him strange looks, "I went to go ask Kakashi about side effects of over-using the Sharingan, but it was just after your fight with Itachi and Kisame, so the only conscious ones in the room other than me were Kurenai and Asuma. They explained a bit about the massacre, and I knew there had to be more to it because things didn't add up." Itachi raised an eyebrow, so Haku continued, "Not only did what you say to Sasuke sound false, like you were trying to shove him towards a response, but there weren't any tracker ninja sent after you to hunt you down. Everything points to someone in high places with the power to supersede the Hokage and with a grudge against the Uchiha clan." There was silence for several moments, then Kakashi shook his head, laughing quietly.

"Sometimes, Haku, you are scarily perceptive."

Itachi spent the next four hours answering questions from everyone, explaining the events leading up to the Uchiha massacre. As the truth was coaxed from him, Itachi felt lighter than he had in years. He knew it would be quite a while before Sasuke was ready to fully forgive him, but…now…it wasn't an impossible idea. Sasuke took a whole day after that to sort out his thoughts, which was made easier by the fact that Itachi wasn't in the room, though circumstances made that the worse situation. Terra and Itachi were both dragged out of the room for most of the day for the next four days. Terra came back in increasingly worse condition, though Itachi wasn't looking much better either. He confessed that the Doctor's curiosity with Uchiha hadn't dimmed and he was expanding on some of the experiments that had already been done to Terra, though he wouldn't elaborate past that. It was unspoken that none of them would point out that Sasuke was also an Uchiha, it helped that he hadn't used his Sharingan in the fight that had spawned their capture. Kakashi, after that first time, was seemingly exempt because, though he did have a Sharingan, he wasn't an Uchiha.

* * *

Wow, this is a heavy chapter. I don't know about you guys, but I'd be concerned about Terra and Itachi. So, now you have the 'new' character for the cast, and we're touching on the reasons behind the Uchiha Massacre. Everyone knows about Terra's family now, and now there's just the teensy problem of them all being held in a slave depot.

Reviews are most welcome! :D


	6. Chapter 6

Okay! Wow, this story has been **very** popular. So, here's the next chapter…we get to find out what happens next with the slavers, and wrap up a few more things...

I don't own Naruto, only Terra and a few altered personalities. :D I do have three cats which are all pains in the neck though. I love 'em anyways.

Now! On with the show!

* * *

Chapter VI: Return of the Flame

* * *

On the fifth day, the guards came back without the two Uchiha. Haku nearly panicked, and it took Sakura and Kakashi to calm the teen down as they were yanked to their feet, chained together, and led from the cell. Theirs wasn't the only one, and throngs of other chained together slaves joined them as they went down, further and further. They passed through the upper levels, which joined two or three at a time, to the lower levels, where one prisoner at a time was yanked out of cells by the guards, mostly with some form of modified muzzle on. Civilians, shinobi, Men, women, children, and there were even some people carrying smaller children who were also bound. Haku, though having short relapses in his façade, managed to take everything in stride. He had seen most of it before. However, Sakura, Naruto, and even Sasuke were affected greatly by the sight. Finally, they came to a huge, open arena, and were filed into stands around the upper levels. The group of Konoha ninja could see there were barred doors set in the stone around the edge of the arena. Several of the others were jeering, making catcalls and generally enjoying themselves, while others looked terrified or were hiding their eyes. Some of the younger children were crying silently. Haku whimpered.

"The Coliseum." He murmured hoarsely, his pale skin going even paler, "Terra told me about this. One of his cellmates before me was taken down here. They take the chakra cuffs off any ninjas and give back weapons to those that had them before hand. It's an all out, no holds barred free-for-all. The last one standing is taken back to the upper levels and gets put out as the most promising of slaves to be sold."

"Then it'll come down between the ninjas." Kakashi murmured, looking ill.

"Only those that aren't too weakened." Haku replied, but he looked grim. None of them had been fed during their holding here. Terra, during one of his lucid moments, had made a wry joke about Sakura's dieting she'd been complaining about after the Chunin Exam preliminaries, if only in an attempt to lighten the mood. Though he'd tried to hide it, Terra was taking the return to the catacombs worse than Haku. Itachi and Terra were the worst off though. Both were loosing a lot of blood every time they were dragged off, not to mention they were being injected with experimental drugs in crippling intensities. Itachi was usually the more lucid of the two, but there were times when even he was teetering on the edge of delusional.

A bell sounded somewhere, and the doors swung open. Ninety percent of the occupants ran out, some wielding weapons, others forming jutsu, and others just swinging their fists. Some ganged together and began picking off those that stayed in their cells, and a few began to eat their opponents, showing they'd come from the cannibal floors. This made half the crowd roar in approval and the other half look decidedly queasy.

"I forgot to mention that…didn't I?" Haku said weakly. Sakura, Naruto, and Sasuke were all barely holding back from puking. Down in the arena, one of the fighters ran into a cell, only to be thrown right back out again, his chest caved in. In two other cells, the same thing happened, though one was with a severed neck instead.

"How much you want to bet one of those is Itachi, and another is Terra?" Sasuke asked, smirking wryly.

"As they aren't on the field, it's not a far cry." Kakashi muttered. When a lance of fire shot from one of the cells, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"That'll be Terra." Haku muttered, as another fireball barbequed some unlucky idiots from another of the cells.

"Probably Itachi." Sasuke murmured. The third cell's occupant, an absolutely giant man in civilian clothes, ran out and began bodily throwing people around. The spear of flame, which turned out to be half of Terra's sword, was flying around, changing direction and occasionally would be yanked back into the originating cell before reappearing some seconds later. Unfortunately, one of the others got tangled up by the wire Terra was using to keep ahold of his weapon. The man was burned to a crisp, but was too heavy and fell over on top of the weapon, trapping it. Another came by, grabbed the chakra enhanced wire, and yanked. Terra was pulled out, and was struggling to free his hand from the unexpected problem, mainly by taking his glove off. The Genin nearly retched when they saw that one of Terra's legs was in the process of regenerating, Haku only looking worried. Blood trailed behind Terra, leaving a steaming residue as the acidic poison that had come to make up most of Terra's blood began to dissolve the packed dirt. Terra got the glove off, and pulled the other half of his katana out from under him, skewering the brute that had pulled him out as the guy tried to attack him. His eyes flashed red, and he spat a fireball at one unlucky man. Terra then levered himself up with his katana, as his shin started to return, then spread flame up the sword. Itachi darted out then, rushing to stand at Terra's back, stopping only to pull the other half of the other's sword out from under the body that trapped it. The two nodded at each other, before focusing on their approaching enemies, Itachi handing Terra his other sword, which was quickly lacquered with fire. The ten or so that had been trying to sneak up on Terra suddenly stiffened, then began screaming, obviously under the effects of a Genjutsu before Itachi sent kunai through each of their heads. Terra started sweeping his swords in careful arcs, sending out blasts of fire that torched everything within five feet of them. Finally, Terra had his whole leg back, though was missing his boot. He took a step forward and breathed out a gout of flames so hot they appeared white. The tidal wave of fire moved over the rest of the arena, wiping out the unfortunate ones caught in it and crashing against the sides, melting some of the stone. The teen took a step forward, only to stumble and grimace, dropping one sword to grip his neck. Itachi finished off the last couple behind him and turned, mouth moving in a concerned question. Terra shook his head, muttering back something. Itachi nodded and extended a hand. Terra took it, and as he stood, a piercing three-note whistle rang through the area.

"Damn." Haku muttered, and the rest of their group instantly noted that ice began spreading over Haku's clothes. It quickly spread from him to Naruto and Sakura, who were on either side of him. The two shuddered, especially when it began to thicken and expand.

"I know it's uncomfortable, but it's better than being fried to a crisp." Haku said quietly.

"What?" Sasuke asked sharply.

"That is Terra's signal that he's about to flood the place with fire. It's a special type of flame that'll break whatever jutsu is on the arena that's keeping the prisoners in and melt the chains and cuffs. We'll make a run for it once they're weak enough to break." Haku explained quickly.

"What about the others. And Itachi?" Sakura asked.

"Itachi will be fine. The powers of the Phoenix Guard can't harm those of the ruling line, which means that Sasuke will be fine as well. As for the other slaves…I'm a bit more concerned about my friends, they come before innocents." Naruto and Sakura were almost completely covered by now, and Haku's mouth had been the last thing to be covered with the thick ice. Sasuke got a thick coating under the cuffs, but was otherwise left alone. Needless to say, this made him more than a little uneasy. However, the ice closed over Kakashi's head just as a huge explosion of flame washed over the area. Sasuke braced for the pain. He already felt the heat on his skin, but no burning sensation. Opening his eyes, the youngest Uchiha stared as he watched the flame slide over his skin like water. Already the chakra cuffs were melting, as were the chains that tied him to the others, and both were melting through the ice below. However, it melted slower than normal ice. Once the shackles were weak enough, Sasuke pulled, snapping them off and managing to shake them off without burning himself. The flames finally died down, and Haku was in motion, the ice on him moving like armor instead of solid water. He easily pulled the melted metal off the others before making the ice melt in one movement. Everyone that had been encased in the ice, except Haku, shivered as the icy water permeated their clothes.

"No time to warm up, we've gotta go." The ice-user hissed. He leapt over charred bodies, some of which were moaning in pain, and landed on the edge of the arena. The others followed, only for Sakura and Naruto to gasp. Terra was limp as Itachi carried him over, the elder's dark eyes keeping a wary gaze on the fire-user.

"He just collapsed." Itachi said as he got near.

"Hurry and get up here before the jutsu rights itself." Haku hissed. Itachi complied, stumbling only slightly, and Kakashi took the limp teen before they all dashed for the exit, Sasuke supporting his brother. Haku took the lead, not only being the fastest, but also the one that remembered which way to go. He fought off memories of the last time he'd escaped from these halls, skidding to a halt right before an open hallway just before a group of guards rushed past. Naruto nearly cannoned into him, which would have pushed him out into the ranks of guards, but thankfully, Sakura grabbed the blonde's jacket and pulled back on it. Once the guards passed, Haku ran forward again. They made it to a four way stop, and Kakashi made to turn right.

"No, it's this way." Haku murmured.

"But we came from this way." Kakashi argued.

"That goes right through the main entrance, this is the way that Terra and I escaped last time." Came the swift argument. Haku wasted no more time, running forward and to the room he remembered clearly. There were still no signs of anyone being there, except faint footprints. Two sets of small feet, children's feet, one of which seemed to have been stumbling. Haku shoved the memories back and extended his senses, feeling, listening, and smelling for someone besides their group. There was nothing. Silently, the ninjas slid into the storeroom, and Haku forced open the window, which he'd closed when he and Terra left. The cool night air blasted them in the face, but none of them paid any heed as they rushed from the room, landing on the soggy ground.

"Stop right there!" someone yelled.

"Not on your life." Haku muttered back, and stomped his foot. The water in the ground splashed upwards, forming a circle of ice spikes facing outwards around their group. A wall sprung up, before pushing outwards, a tunnel beginning to form, and Haku took the lead again, holding one arm out in front of him as he manipulated the water to continue forming a tunnel. As soon as Kakashi, the last in the line, entered the tunnel, it closed off with a thick wall of ice.

"Is it just me, or is the ground starting to get steeper?" Naruto yelled.

"I'm burrowing into the ground, otherwise they'd follow us to the shore." Haku called back.

"What do you plan to do when we get there?" Kakashi asked.

"Your mission was over, right?" when Kakashi made an affirmative noise, Haku continued, "We head back to village and explain Uchiha-san's position. Lady Tsunade-sama will understand."

"And how do you plan to cross the ocean?" Itachi asked quietly.

"I'll freeze enough ice to make a raft that'll last us to the Land of Waves." came the simple reply.

"You'll be exhausted!" Sakura exclaimed. Haku didn't answer, instead focusing on the tunnel around them. He slowed, stopping after a few more feet and raised his hands further. The ice spread out, making a hollow large enough for all of them to sit down comfortably. The icy tunnel they'd used to come down into the earth closed up except for a small dip, indicating which direction they'd come from.

"I won't be exhausted if we rest now." Haku said quietly, sitting down on the only slightly damp earth, "Besides, the only ones of us who have weapons now are Terra and Itachi, right?" Kakashi set Terra's limp body down.

"True. I guess we wait then." Kakashi sighed, sitting down. The others followed suit, and Haku turned to Terra, his hand glowing green.

"Haku, you know how to do healing jutsu?" Sakura asked. Haku nodded, frowning as he moved

his hand, getting the readings back from the diagnostic jutsu.

"That's strange…" he murmured, "I…can't find anything wrong…" the others turned to look at the brown haired teen, "His chakra's fine, his temperature's running a little on the cool side, but that's understandable because of the ice. No Genjutsu, no physical injuries…what _is_ wrong?" this was directed at himself, thinking aloud.

"Could it be the poison?" Kakashi asked. Haku shook his head.

"No, that's melded almost flawlessly to his blood." He moved his glowing hand further down, inspecting Terra's leg that had regrown, "And there's no poison affecting the wound he received." Haku sat back on his heels, disengaging the diagnosis jutsu, "It's like he's just out of energy. He collapses like this after our training spars, but the adrenaline couldn't have passed through his system that quickly."

"When was the last time he ate?" Itachi asked quietly. Haku laughed darkly, shaking his head.

"About seven and a half years ago." he replied, "One of the first things that madman did to Terra."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

There was a puff of smoke as the small, light brown dog disappeared. He left behind a deafening silence between the two people in the room. For several minutes, neither of the two spoke, until finally, slowly, the one sitting at the desk stood. She moved to the window, looking out over the buildings spread out around them, and rested her hands on the windowsill.

"Those bastards." The sill crumbled under her hands.

"It's likely there was only one involved, and you and I both know who." Jiraiya said as he stepped forward. Tsunade glared out over the Hidden Leaf village, growling under her breath.

"Yes, I know exactly who you mean." She replied quietly. The Hokage straightened and ran her hands through a series of lightning fast hand signs. Then she bit her thumb and slammed her palm on the open stone window ledge.

"Summoning Jutsu!" Tsunade murmured quietly. Seven small slugs appeared, each about the size of a kitten.

"What do you require of us, my lady?" one of the slugs asked.

"I need you to go and give messages to several people. I need to talk with them, now." Tsunade said.

{[\|/]}

Tsunade's brown eyes surveyed the seven people arrayed before her. Seven of the highest ranking shinobi families in the Village Hidden in the Leaves. This matter would concern them far more than any civilians realized. Tsunade and Jiraiya were determined to keep the council out of this, and had scanned four times for listening jutsu and sensory devices in this room. The blonde Hokage let out a breath, then stood, surveying the six men and one woman before her.

"Itachi Uchiha is returning to the Hidden Leaf village." She said simply. Several of those before her looked surprised, and Tsunade glanced at Jiraiya, who nodded and began to explain the situation that he knew of and what Kakashi's ninja hound had told them. The more expressive of the group looked appalled, and even some of the less expressive looked disturbed.

"That's why you called us here, isn't it?" Shikaku Nara asked, "You want the shinobi leaders to make this decision on what to do with him, after we've being informed of the truth. Not the civilians or the council." Tsunade nodded.

"Yes. The council has done enough in the way of interfering with that family. And not to mention that there's another one floating around right now. The three of them can begin rebuilding what couldn't be saved before, and it will strengthen their ties with the village, if not all the people in it. Two out of the three living Uchiha have people they care for in this village. With a little bit of luck, they will become great ninja in their own rights to protect the village because of those precious to them."

"So, you want our opinion on letting him come back to the village?" Tsume Inuzuka asked, Tsunade nodded, "Let him."

"Indeed, he can prove through actions if he is sincere or not." Hiashi Hyūga said quietly.

"It would probably be best not to announce his return though." Inoichi Yamanaka added, "The two boys of Team Twelve, he could live with them couldn't he?" Tsunade nodded again.

"I was thinking that as well and have already begun to make arrangements." Jiraiya snorted

"I'm sure Terra will be thrilled." he grinned, "That kid's always got a smart comeback."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

A few hours later, Haku continued his tunnel to the beach. Upon reaching it, the ice-user stayed true to his word and froze enough ice to make a fair sized raft. They made good time, but it still took three days to cross the ocean between the Land of Water to the island that made up the Land of Waves. Naruto wanted to stop in and see Inari and his grandfather, but Haku was worried, as were Kakashi and Itachi, because Terra had yet to wake up. He didn't even really stir in his sleep. They did stop at Zabuza's grave however. Haku kneeled to the left of his mentor's grave and ran one hand over the metal that made up the giant executioner's blade.

"Hello Zabuza." He murmured. Thankfully, the others were waiting back at the road, not too far away, but enough to give the ice-user some privacy.

"I'm sorry we haven't come by to visit, but…I think…what we've done, what we've accomplished, would make you proud." Haku straightened and hurried back to the others, hopefully they'd get back to Konoha soon.

Otherwise they bypassed the village and took straight to the road that would take them back to Konoha. Kakashi, once they had made it to land, had sent one of his ninja hounds ahead with a letter to Tsunade, warning her of their coming and who was with them. With their speed, they made it in two days, arriving at the gates of Konoha in the middle of the night. Surprisingly, Tsunade _and_ Jiraiya were waiting for them.

"We'll deal with you later," Tsunade said briskly, "where is Terra?"

"Here." Kakashi moved forward. They had been rotating who carried Terra since they'd made it to the Land of Waves. At Tsunade's gesture, Kakashi and the others followed the Hokage to the hospital.

"Huh," Tsunade murmured, "That's…strange."

"What?" Haku asked, worried for his friend.

"His temperature is very high, but his body shows no signs of fighting of disease or having a fever." Haku sighed.

"That's normal. He's actually running a little cold. His normal internal body temperature is far above what would kill most people. He also has an overly high energy rate per cell, and overly high cell division rate." Tsunade nodded.

"Yes, I'd noticed that as well. Otherwise, besides some food, which is the most immediate issue I can see, he's perfectly healthy." Haku frowned.

"But, Terra can't eat. He survives on chakra. The cells and organs that would usually be used were…changed…a long time ago." the Hokage frowned.

"I don't know what you're talking about. Those organs are completely normal." Haku blinked, then stepped forward, his hand glowing the same green that Tsunade's had been just a moment ago. After a moment, he staggered back, eyes wide.

"W-what! He…that…" Naruto grinned and clapped a hand on Haku's shoulder.

"That means that Terra can have ramen now!" the blonde exclaimed. Haku was still staring at Terra, but he was smiling faintly.

"So, something good did come from that madman." He murmured.

{[\|/]}

Terra was put on a liquid food diet, to slowly reintroduce his system to taking in food. Haku had explained in depth to Tsunade about what Terra and himself had learned about the pyromancer's augmented abilities. Itachi had not fared so well in his own examination, several toxins and experimental drugs were left in his system, not to mention that Tsunade had found a fairly rare and dangerous disease wracking the eighteen year old's body. After a few solid hours of research, she found a cure. It meant that Itachi was bedridden for several weeks after arriving, though that was shared by the rest of the group as well. All of them were suffering from malnutrition, dehydration, and chakra exhaustion. Tsunade and Jiraiya had come into the rooms they'd all been housed in, and had gotten the mission briefing from them directly about a week after they'd arrived. Itachi, Terra, and Haku were all in the same room. Kakashi was with his team.

"So, you don't think they'll move?" Tsunade asked after Haku finished telling their trip back. Haku and Terra shook their heads.

"If they didn't move after we escaped, I highly doubt they will now." Terra said quietly. He was still rather beat up, one of the drugs Tsunade had extracted from his system was a restrictor that kept his injuries healing as quickly as usual, and the effects were taking time to wash from his system.

"Good." The blonde woman said with a nod. She straightened, turning to Itachi, who had just finished speaking with Jiraiya.

"Lady Tsunade." Itachi said quietly, bowing his head.

"I've informed the other clan heads about the new knowledge concerning the Uchiha clan." Tsunade said briskly, "They've agreed to allow you back into the Konoha shinobi ranks. However, you are on a probationary period, to appease the citizen side of the council when I decide to inform them." From the frown on the fifth Hokage's face, that day would take quite a while to arrive, "In following that thought, you've been added to a two-man team of recently promoted Chunin." Terra and Haku looked up from their, quiet, pillow fight, "As this is a probationary position, you have been demoted to Chunin status. You'll have to take the Jonin exam on your own time, after the probation has lifted, but in all likelihood it will be impossible to restore your rank as ANBU." Itachi nodded, it was more than he'd ever expected and he didn't particularly want to re-engage in the ANBU Black-Ops.

"Thank you, lady Hokage." He said quietly. Tsunade turned to Haku and Terra.

"Team Twelve, you now have a third member." She said, smiling slightly. The two teens grinned in tandem.

"Goody, someone else to spar with besides Jack Frost over here." Terra said, earning him a heavy swat to the head with Haku's free pillow. Tsunade turned away from the two, shaking her head.

"I don't know whether to tell you to not be so childish, or to let some of that rub off on your cousins." Terra, who'd been reaching across the gap between his and Haku's beds in an attempt to hit the other teen, lost his grip on the mattress and fell to the ground with a crash. Almost immediately, he was back on his feet and staring open mouthed at the Hokage.

"W-what?" the pyromancer breathed, voice barely loud enough to hear.

"I guess they never had a chance before," Tsunade turned to Itachi, who nodded slightly, and she turned back to the other eighteen year old, "but yes, you are one of the Uchiha clan." Terra continued to stare at her, but slowly, he sank to the floor, knees no longer able to support his weight.

"Terra?" Haku swung his legs out of bed and slid to his feet, but stopped shy of touching the older teen when he spoke.

"This…this whole time, I actually had a family?" Terra's voice was barely a whisper, "I had a family. I _have_ a family!" the pyromancer surged to his feet, staring now at Itachi, "I've got you and Sasuke! I may not have parents or siblings, but I've got you two! And all the people who've meant something in my life." He glanced at Haku, who nodded slowly. Terra faced forwards again, eyes watering and steaming slightly.

"I've got…a home…for the first time in my life…I'm _home_."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

It was dark when the balcony door slid open. The three entered, closing it silently behind them. The figure in the lead ran a hand over the wall beside the glass door, as the second walked into the room, only to trip and fall heavily onto the ground. The lights flicked on.

"Honestly Terra, you couldn't have waited another five seconds?" Haku sighed. Terra ignored him in favor of swearing heatedly and nursing his bashed shin, which had caught on the coffee table. The cryomancer sighed, turning his attention to the third member of the group.

"Is he always like this?" Itachi asked, blinking in surprise at his cousin's antics.

"Unfortunately." Haku drawled, "Come on, the guest bedroom's this way. Though, I guess we'll be considering it your room from now on." The two left Terra in the living room, making their way down the short hallway.

"You have three bedrooms?" the Uchiha asked. Haku nodded.

"I didn't understand why Terra got a three bedroom apartment, but when I asked, he said he'd had a lapse of memory. We used to live with our sensei, Zabuza, and I guess Terra was used to getting everything in sets of three. When we got this apartment, his death was still very sharp in our memory." The ice-user explained.

"You trained under one of the Seven Swordsmen?" Itachi queried.

"Well, we did. That's why we stopped at Zabuza's grave in the Land of Waves, but he never really expected us to inherit his position. We both lean more towards speed fighting, and Terra's the only one who learned how to wield an actual blade." Haku stopped in front of the second door on the right, "Here we go, haven't done much more than furnish this room since we moved in though. It'll be up to you to decorate." Itachi nodded, looking around the mostly barren room. There was a bed, a desk with a chair, a bookshelf, and a closet door.

"Thank you for this." Itachi said quietly. Haku shook his head.

"No problem at all. Like Terra said last week, we're a family." He rested a hand on Itachi's shoulder, "Family looks out for one another."

{[\|/]} {[\|/]} {[\|/]}

The pounding sound of footsteps echoed through the cool morning air, resounding over the rooftops as the source advanced at a dizzying speed. The sun had cleared the horizon, and the mist had just been burned away by it's weakening warmth.

"Terra!" Terra looked up, blinking slightly in surprise as a familiar form leapt from the rooftops and landed before him.

"Oh, hi Tenten." He said with a grin, removing a hand from his pocket to wave slightly. Tenten smiled and fell into step beside the older teen.

"So, what had you out of bed so early in the morning?" the weapons mistress asked. Terra sighed, his head falling forward.

"I had my last check-up at the hospital. Haku, the evil frost monster, set it for seven in the morning. Gah! He _knows_ I hate getting up early in the morning!" Tenten smothered a laugh at the black haired teen's bemoaning. Unlike his cousins, Terra was quite expressive, especially when he was with someone he trusted. Tenten had worked her way very diligently into that small circle.

"So, are you going tonight?" Terra shrugged at the brunette's question.

"Dunno, I might. I'm not big on parties." He sighed, looking at the sky, "But, it would be worth it to see Haku fending off advances from other guys." The pyromancer huffed in amusement, and Tenten smiled, "What 'bout you? Are you going?" Tenten nodded.

"Yes, me and some of the other girls are going to be getting ready sometime around three. If you do come, do you want to meet up somewhere?" Terra shrugged.

"How about the food stands? There're supposed to be setting up in the park. It'll be nice to get away from ramen. Naruto's been dragging me out for it every other day or so since I was cleared for solid foods." He grinned, closing his eyes as he continued to walk, looking like a sunflower trying to soak up the rays, "There's _so much_ to try! I never had a chance after we got free the first time, and all we ever had in the catacombs was tasteless, cold broth. I really don't mind that all I've really been able to try is ramen and rice balls, but I'm excited about trying something else."

"You'll have to remind me to let you try some of my special brownies. None of the girls besides Hinata will eat them because they're too concerned about gaining pounds. Ino swears that she added five to her waist just looking at them." Terra smiled, looking at Tenten.

"Must be really good then. They only complain if it's something that is really good but they won't chance because of their 'diets'." The pyromancer laughed and Tenten smiled.

"Okay, well, I hope I see you later!" she called as she leapt up onto a rooftop. Terra waved, disappearing down a side street towards the apartment he shared with Haku and his cousin.

{[\|/]}

Lights and music flooded the air, intertwined around the smells and sounds of cooking food. There were pops and hisses as balloons were burst and blown up from the different games, tinkles of glass as bottles were knocked over and so on.

"Are you sure they're gonna come?" Tenten turned to survey Ino, hands on her hips. The three rookie teams, plus Team Gai, were all milling around the festival grounds in the park. All of them were wearing kimonos or yukatas.

"He said he might, I want to wait a few more minutes." Ino sighed and shook her head. She looked longingly at Sasuke, who was in a contest with Naruto to see who could win at one particular game. Despite what she would wish to see, they were about even. What the blonde konoichi _couldn't _see, was that Sasuke was grinning slightly as he played against his teammate and rival.

"Look out!" the shout preceded a dust cloud into their midst. Tenten, Neji, Shikamaru, and Kiba, who'd all barely made it out of the way, stared as a young man staggered to his feet, sending fearful glances back the way he came. After getting his bearings, the man sped off, looking like he'd seen a ghost. Loud laughter echoed through the area, and Terra could be seen doubled over with mirth some paces away from a fuming Haku.

"Ha, ha! You should have seen the look on your face! Oh, that was one of the best yet! Ha, ha, ha!" the Uchiha managed around laughter.

"Terra, I'm gonna murder you…_slowly_." Haku hissed, ice forming slowly in the air around him. Terra darted away, just in time to escape a pair of ice senbon.

"You've gotta catch me first, 'lovely lady.'" Terra ducked to avoid a punch to the head, darting forward and scurrying behind Tenten, "Hide me!" Tenten hastily stepped to the side.

"No way, you asked for it." She said firmly.

"Ah, shit!" Terra dodged, managing to yank the sleeve of his green yukata from the path of the senbon that had been launched at him, "Hey! I was only quoting that last guy! No need to get so defensive!" Haku charged, throwing kicks and punches with an ease that belied the heavy, blue green fabric of his attire. He finally caught Terra a blow to the face with his wooden sandal, sending the other teen flipping back into a tree.

"I wasn't defensive. I was very much on the offensive." The ice-user said, crossing his arms and stalking towards one of the food stands. Terra got to his feet with a grin, dusting off his clothes.

"Was that really necessary?" Tenten asked, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow. Terra smiled, rubbing one shoulder with his hand.

"Ah, well…probably not. But he'll be fine. Besides, it's payback for saying they could just throw me into the sky instead of the fireworks." Tenten facepalmed.

"You two." She murmured, "How is it that you get along so well? You're like…like…"

"Fire and ice?" Terra supplied.

"Exactly! Wait, oh you…" Terra laughed as Tenten swatted him over the head with her sleeve.

"Well, we _are!_ Quite literally! How many times do you get to say that and mean it in a lifetime?"

"Every time you and Haku have a fight." Tenten deadpanned. She shook her head, then moved forward and hooked her arm around Terra's, "Come on, let's go get something to eat." Terra blinked, before shrugging and complying. The two turned their conversation to weapons, and were discussing the effects location of smithing had on the finished product as they walked out of hearing range. Ino shared a wide-eyed gaze with Sakura.

"Was Tenten…_flirting?_" the blonde asked.

"I think she was!" Sakura murmured, staring after the weapons mistress.

"That…was definitely strange." Lee muttered under his breath, also staring at Tenten's back, "Quite peculiar."

{[\|/]}

Tenten studied the young man sitting beside her as they ate. She had raised an eyebrow when he'd ordered an amount of food that was enough for an Akimichi, but he was scarfing it down at an alarming rate. Thankfully, his table manners were rather well maintained apparently, so he at least appeared neat while doing so. The weapons mistress smiled as Terra lost his grip with the chopsticks, only catching his bite of food with his teeth before it slipped back onto his plate.

"Nice catch." Terra grinned, waving away the complement. Tenten noticed that his yukata wasn't a plain dark green like she'd thought, but had undertones of red when the light hit it.

"Nothing like catching kunai out of the air, Zabuza had a habit of playing dodge kunai with us when we were kids. Now _that _was interesting." Terra glanced out of the corner of his eye at her, "By the way, you look nice. You should let your hair down more often Tenten." The weapons mistress couldn't stop the blush that washed over her face, and she turned away to let her hair, which she'd let loose except for the bangs around her face, which were pulled back with a dragonfly shaped clip, hide her face. Her red and aquamarine kimono had large koi fish swimming over it, outlined in silver thread.

"Thanks." Tenten murmured, going back to her food.

'_Why am I blushing? Lee said much the same earlier, why did I do it when Terra said so?'_ the brunette shoved the thoughts away, and instead focused on the sky as the first of the fireworks lit up the night.

"Wow, never been this close to fireworks before." Terra said quietly, and Tenten looked over to see him staring at the sky, eyes and face washed with color as the explosions broke over the darkness.

"Never?"

"Nope, first festival I've been to as a guest. Usually when we go to festivals, it's to catch a target and we're hanging out in the shadows, waiting for a chance to take 'em down." Terra crossed his arms and leaned back slightly, "Just another thing we've gained since coming to Konoha."

"Good. You guys seemed to need a break." Tenten finally said, smiling up at the fireworks.

{[\|/]}

It was dark, damp, and cold. Dripping water could be heard, but the source was nowhere in sight. A candle flared into life, the small flame hissing as the dampness in the air attempted to smother it.

"So, he _is_ a full blooded Uchiha?" Orochimaru hissed. Kabuto nodded from where he was kneeling on the ground.

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru. He also appears to be one of the Phoenix Guard." The snake Sannin chuckled lightly, a grin spreading over his face.

"Then, it's a good thing that I already marked him. Keep an eye on this boy, and Sasuke as well. With any luck, I'll have two bodies ready for me when next I need one." Orochimaru grimaced as another wave of pain washed over him, "Unfortunately, that seems to be sooner than later."

"I'll take my leave, Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto said, glasses reflecting the light as he stood and vanished.

* * *

Whoo! Scary!

Poor Terra, I'm always so mean to my OC's. :( He's getting so many problems thrown at him, it's a wonder he's as sane as he is. At least Tenten and Haku are there, someone's gotta be relatively sane. So, Itachi is now on the 'good' guys' side…not that he wasn't always one to begin with. …whew! Nobody bit my head off… I apologize if anyone didn't know that already…seeing how I'm usually the one behind everyone, I don't know if that's even possible...

So, yes…this is the last chapter of Fire and Ice. Fear not though, there will be a new story going up in FOUR Days time…well, at least a teaser. I'm trying to get some ducks in a row for that one…but by the second rotation of my schedule, the first chapter WILL be up!

P.S.: No, the title of this chapter is not a play on the phrase, "Return of the King"…though I know several of my friends would say that they wouldn't put it past me to do something like that...


End file.
